


Queen of Secrets

by SairenHaria



Series: Queen of Secrets [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: And troll them, Angst, Chloe here to smack some sense into two idiots in love, Chloe is bi as hell and trying real hard to not think about it, Chloe wants to know why she's now a therapist, Chloe's only got so many things she can self reflect on, Chloé Bourgeois Being Chloé Bourgeois, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Lila salt, Marinette and Adrien seriously need to work on self reflection, Mild time travel but heavy angst, Queen Bee will rise again, Unrequited Crush, Vedalia, identity reveals, just spoiling all of season three at this point, miraculer spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-23
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2020-05-18 06:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 65,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19329202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SairenHaria/pseuds/SairenHaria
Summary: In quick succession, Chloe learns two very important secrets: Chat Noir and Ladybug's identities! Which sets off a chain of events thanks to Chloe's shift in priorities. After all, someone has to keep those two sane.So begins plans to deal with a certain liar, trap a bird, earn her Bee, and get two idiots together who won't admit their identities. Not made easier by everyone's various personsl issues and everyone's warranted trust issues of Chloe herself.But Chloe is full of both love, and spite, and if she has to learn to get along with Marinette, the power of friendship, and deal with late night visits and a new roommate, then she'll see it through no matter what.Everyone else just has to come along for the ride.





	1. Secret of the childhood friend

**Author's Note:**

> Idea inspired by this tumblr thread: https://miracu-less.tumblr.com/post/185719050508/listen-i-would-be-so-satisfied-if-chloe-found-out

Of all the consequences of Chloe being Queen Bee, Adrien hadn’t counted on this one.

“I got him Ladybug! Take care of the Akuma!”

Namely the fact that Chloe, selfish, dismissive of all threats, stubborn Chloe Bourgeois would go out of her way to save someone else without superpowers. Or at the very least save him. Still, it’s different from all the other times he’s been with her when an Akuma attacked, usually her clinging to him for help instead of now.

Now she’s dragging him through the back of a government building, knowing the layout of seemingly uniform hallways from years running around them looking for her father.

Even shouting at everyone the state of things and to keep out of the way, they might have an Akuma after them. They can’t be pressured for information if they didn’t pay attention to where they were, after all.

“We’ll get to the parking garage. Then we can get to the, ugh, subway. Cars took a while to stop, I don’t think the thread is strong enough to stop a train,” Chloe said as they walked deeper into the building.

The Akuma was an assistant for one of the designers featured in a fashion show an hour ago. Due to some loose thread work, Adrien’s sleeve had torn off and with a lot of yelling and blaming going around, the assistant was fired. And Adrien? Adrien was one of the people they blamed.

The biggest threat was the Akuma controlled thread. There was currently a web of thread throughout all of Paris, a good part of it completely invisible. It took careful navigation to get through and without enough force, most everything stopped. But cars did manage to get down a street before stopping, so Chloe’s theory wasn’t unreasonable.

The problem was Adrien really didn’t need to run. “I’m sure we can just hole up here, Chlo. Get some snacks, watch the news?” Adrien said, hoping then he could find a way to escape her.

“Absolutely not. That Akuma saw us go in here. If he slips away from Ladybug for a second, she’ll find us,” Choe said. “Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing,” she said.

Adrien sighed, following along, one hand in her grip, the other holding his phone. Maybe it won’t be a problem. His Lady was capable and it’s not as if the Akuma is that dangerous. More inconvenient!

Though he’s pretty sure part of the point is it’s hard for Ladybug to disengage. The Akuma seemed aware when her threads were disturbed. Which made it harder for Ladybug to get away to go for other back up if she did need it.

But she’ll be fine, he’s sure.

So he convinced himself until she summoned her Lucky Charm and made an opening the Akuma took advantage of. On one hand, her quick thinking meant she got her hands over her ears. The binding that immobilized her made it impossible to move her hands to get at the earrings.

On the other hand, she only had minutes until untying her was no longer a problem.

Adrien stopped in the middle of the parking garage and quickly looked around. No one else, just them-

“Adrien, we have to keep moving,” Chloe insisted.

Adrien shook his head. “Chloe, just…please, don’t say anything. Plagg, Claws On!”

And then he was gone, not daring to look back at Chloe’s reaction.

~~~

Adrien is not surprised when Chloe shows up at his house that evening.

He’s a little more surprised by the stack of Sailor Moon blu rays and a carry out bag from their favorite Japanese restaurant and Chloe telling Nathalie if Gabriel decides Adrien needs to be up early on a Saturday, she’s willing to fight him herself.

It wasn’t an unheard of thing for Chloe to do. Though less so these days. She had gotten less insistent for Adrien to come do fun things with her since his mother disappeared. Preferring to sneak him out directly or enroll him in school behind his father and Nathalie’s backs.

“Um. Hi?” Adrien said as he closed the door, watching her head over to the TV.

“Where are they? Come on now, no need to hide, I know you exist,” Chloe said, setting down the Sailor Moon cases and bag.

“Well aren’t you demanding,” Plagg said, coming out of his hiding place by the bed.

“I don’t want you disturbing us in case you’re a little troll. You eat cheese, don’t you?” Chloe asked.

Plagg looked taken aback at that. “…yes?”

“How did you-” Adrien started.

“Ugh, finally! It’s been driving me crazy, Adrikins has the most sensitive nose in the world and he hates cheese. I could not for the life of me figure out why he kept reeking of the stuff,” Chloe said with a dramatic sigh.

“I can’t believe you two rich kids have such unrefined tastes! Cheese is the best thing, the scent heavenly, the texture so gooey-” Plagg started.

“Here,” Chloe said, pulling out an extra bag, untying the top and pulling out a wooden case.

Plagg paused then moved forward to look at the cheese. “Fu de mon bristol?! Adrien, you should have told her ages ago, she knows what’s good!” He said, snatching up the box.

Chloe sniffed. “Of course. Even if the smell is terrible, I always know what’s good quality. And I’ll bring more as long as you don’t eat it near me,” she said.

“Of course~” Plagg said, flitting up to the second level to eat his prize.

Adrien stared at the iteration, cautiously moving closer. “What was that for? You don’t usually give gifts for no reason,” he said.

“Of course I have a reason,” Chloe said, moving over to the player to put in the disc. “He protects you.”

Adrien froze at that. Of course, he knows Chloe cares. He knows. She’s terrible at showing it, worse at saying it, but she does. And it always hits hard when she does express it in a way his own mind can’t look at it another way. “Oh.”

“He still smells like an old gym sock,” Chloe added.

Adrien laughed at that, the knot of anxiety finally loosening. This is Chloe. This is his first friend. She’s a lot of things, but she never hurts him on purpose. “Don’t I know it?” He said, taking a seat on the couch.

Chloe finally moved over as the player begins reading the disc. She starts unpacking the food.

“You….you know you can’t tell anyone, right?” He asked.

“Of course not, what do you take me for?” Chloe said with a scoff. “I’d never tell your secrets. Though really, I should have known. This explains Chat Noir’s absolutely atrocious sense of humor. Puns are only good with timing, not thrown out at every opportunity!”

“Hey, people like my clawever wordplay,” Adrien said with a wide grin.

Chloe groaned. “Oh god, now I’m going to need to deal with cat puns, aren’t I?”

“I suppawse I could bee convinced to mix it up,” he said.

Chloe pinched his arm. “You’re terrible,” she said.

He laughed again, rubbing his arm. He watched her lay out the sushi, but there was one other point to address. “This doesn’t mean you can be Queen Bee,” he said. “I don’t decide that."

Chloe tensed a few moments at that, movements slowing. Then. Her shoulders slumped and she looked at Adrien with a look he rarely saw.

The last time he saw it, she had dropped his class schedule in front of him and near begged him to come to school. Not for her bragging rights, not to have him around, but because she knew what the isolation was doing to him after losing his mother.

She reached out, a hand resting on his chest, over his heart. “You almost died,” she said softly.

The silence dragged on between them. Chloe focused on his beating heart, reassuring herself he was fine. Adrien trying to not think too much about the pain, how his insides burned, how his ribs felt like they were liquefying in his chest, how every new breath felt like a Herculean effort. How he dared not stop because to stop meant leaving Chloe alone with an Akuma and a villainous Miraculous user.

What breaks it isn’t words, instead Adrien lowering a wall he’s kept up for months. He’s stopped touching Chloe as much since she started flirting with him, not wanting to lead his friend on, but this time, they knew. This was about comfort, reassurance for two friends who have known each other for years.

He wraps an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and she curls up next to him. Only pulling away enough to hit play on the remote before settling at his side.

They let each others warmth comfort the other until the draw of friendship and justice pull them into the genre. Where they could make familiar jokes and admire favorite scenes, eat sushi and the candy Chloe had snuck under the food. Letting themselves be kids for at least a few hours.


	2. Secret of the rival

Marinette had hoped the Bee Miraculous would make Chloe a better person. On one hand, she's glad she was right! Chloe may still be very Chloe, but without a doubt, she is becoming a better person. She can't say a good person, but at least a person who does good things.

On the other hand, it was highly inconvenient at this particular moment.

They were stuck in a closet, Chloe's ear pressed to the door. "Ugh, why does he use so many puns? I get he's distracting, but it's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous," she muttered.

Marinette did not want to be in the closet. She had been trying to get out of sight when the Akuma had targeted her. Admittedly, she would have probably been hit if Chloe hadn't dived out of a classroom and knocked her out of the way, then grabbed her to drag her to safety. The Akuma had started to chase them when Chat showed up and got them precious time to hide away.

Marinette wasn't worried too much about Chat's safety. Honestly, he would do better with the Akuma then she would. 

"Has Ladybug showed up yet?" Chloe asked.

Marinette shook her head. "No. Chloe, I really need to get out of here-" she said.

"No," she said, quick and firm. "You are not going out there. Whatever reason you're going to give, it's not worth risking....risking THAT."

Marinette, under normal circumstances, would agree.

His name was Nice Guy and his power turned girls who 'didn't act like proper women' into his own definition of what he thinks they should be. From subservient maids to prudish nuns to even a few strippers. It was the kind of power that made Marinette feel sick to her stomach and made her want to hurry out and take him down. Especially as she could still see and hear the fight through Alya's livestream, her own friend having been hit and phone left on the ground. She's pretty sure it's one video Alya is gonna delete later with the image of their classmates and herself acting like...objects. Dolls to perform for a terrible Akuma

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," Chloe said, pressing her ear to the door again. "Move those....cleaning...cart things. We're thin enough we should be able to hide behind them without being obvious if we need to. Guy like that won't look for girls near....near such dirty things," she said with a grimace.

"You. Risking touching those?" Marinette asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If we have to, but we probably won't. Chat Noir sounds really mad. He won't let that guy get away from him long," she said.

That almost sounded like faith. From Chloe. For Chat.

Weird. Marinette's never heard that before. Maybe because they've worked together now?

"Come on, Chloe, I can make a run for it! My house isn't that far!" Marinette insisted.

"No, it's too dangerous, it's too much open space to get anywhere to get outside!" Chloe shot back.

"You can't tell me you want to stay locked up with me!" Marinette said, throwing up her hands in frustration. 

"Of course I don't, but that's what a superheroine would do!" Chloe snapped, glaring at Marinette. "A superheroine saves people, even if she doesn't like them, even if she hates them, now be quiet and move the carts!"

That caused Marinette to pause, staring at Chloe in surprise, at the determined look on her face. Determined. It wasn't a look Marinette is used to seeing. Confident. Angry. Wanting to destroy all in her path. But not this look of...resolution. 

"Trust me. I'm going to keep you safe," she said and pressed her ear to the door again.

Marinette to move to do as she said, a little thrown off, but her thoughts turning back to the problem at hand. The easiest thing is to just wait until Chat drew the Akuma away or the Akuma ran. Once the area was clear, then Chloe will let her go and she could transform. Simple, easy, and it doesn't seem like Chat would be changed by Nice Guy. He could fight a while without worry. So she kept watching the stream, volume low so as to not be heard over the fighting outside, but Marinette could hear and Chloe getting a few intermittent words.

And after fifteen minutes, it was clear Nice Guy was NOT going to go away. Apparently he was looking for the 'bitch who rejected him.'

"Who is that? The Akuma?" Chloe finally asked.

"Huh? Uuuuh, Alaric? He's on the basketball team," Marinette said.

"The guy with the ugly green streak?" Chloe asked.

"Well, the green just doesn't go well with his complexion, but...yeah," Marinette said. Then paused as she noticed Chloe's frown deepening. "You didn't."

"I didn't do anything wrong," Chloe said.

"Chloe, did you humiliate him?!" Marinette demanded.

"I threw a smoothie on a guy who aggressively asked me out eight times in two weeks, does this reaction look like good date material?" Chloe retorted, jerking her thumb at the door.

That gave Marinette pause. Marinette knew Akumas weren't what people would normally do. But normally the reactions were more...general in retaliation. To hurt people, maybe kill them, do something in response to their hurt. The fact his anger took the form of 'women don't act the way he thinks they should' and the way he thinks they should....it was all very telling. Everyone had anger, but that spoke of another issue entirely. Even Kim's anger had turned to wanting to destroy love, the feeling that was hurting him, not...all this.

"Exactly," Chloe said after the drawn out silence. "At least Kim takes me saying no with some grace and backs off when I do."

"No, no, I....I get it," Marinette said. Because of course she did. Chloe may not be a nice person, but she's noticed that her rate of provoking people has gone down. It's gone down a lot. She can't fault her for being mean when, well, it was actually warranted.

"Has Ladybug shown up?" Chloe asked.

Marinette made a show of looking down. "No, not yet. She must be held up somewhere."

Chloe was frowning at the door. "....she might be held up here," she said.

Marinette's heart leapt into her throat. "What?"

"She might be in the area. Trapped somewhere with some of the girls hiding," Chloe said. "Unable to change."

"That...that's a leap, isn't it?" Marinette said.

"Not really. I don't think she's that much older than us. Just.....just everything says that," Chloe said, staring at the door. "Which means things need to change. Chat can only fight so long and this guy isn't leaving while I'm still here," she said, reaching for the door knob.

Marinette was almost too late, grabbing Chloe's wrist before she opened the door. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm changing things!" Chloe said, glaring at the door. "If the guy gets me, then he'll move on to other places and then if Ladybug is stuck, she can get away to transform."

"Chloe, you're the one who rejected him! Who knows what he'll change you into!" Marinette said, horrified.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?! Let Chat fight until he loses and Hawk Moth gets the ring?!" Chloe demanded, turning to glare at Marinette, but she can see the fear in her eyes. "Chat Noir needs HELP."

"Chloe, he has superpowers, he can take it!" Marinette insisted.

"He almost died last time!" Chloe shouted. "I won't let it happen, not for me, never again!" Her voice cracked, tears gathering in her eyes even as she kept the scowl on her face.

For a long moment, they just stared at each other. Marinette feeling like she couldn't breathe, Chloe's getting harsh. 

"I'm a superheroine. Miraculous or no. And he is my teammate. I can help, don't tell me not to, Dupain-Cheng," she said, voice low, shaking slightly. Because Chloe didn't show her fear, but Marinette knew she wasn't without it. She knew Chloe hid a lot under the surface. She just never expected this.

And for someone like Chloe, strong and confident, the idea of undergoing that kind of change...

Never before had Marinette both been so incredibly proud of someone and _wanted to violently throttle them._

"Just stay here. I'll run, he won't think anyone else is in here," she said, and started to open the door.

Marinette put her hand on the door, holding it close. "Chloe, stop."

"Dupain-Cheng, I swear to god-" Chloe started.

Marinette put a hand over her mouth. "Please don't tell anyone. Tikki, spots on."

The look of shock is expected, confusion, but Marinette doesn't wait for Chloe to process it before she's opening the door. "Stay here," she said and then she was gone.

~~~

The Akuma was dealt with. Chat hadn't even let Ladybug say a word before he went on a very long tirade of why girls are allowed to be whatever they want and he shouldn't act entitled like that before they had to leave.

And a surprising comment from Chat before they parted ways. If he ever came across as a guy like that to please pour a smoothie over his head. It got a laugh from her. And made her curious when he learned about the incident that set the guy off.

It was unexpected enough that for a few minutes, she forgot about the fact Chloe Bourgeois knew who she was.

She had pulled out her phone to an unexpected text and was reminded all over again.

_'I won't tell anyone. I'm not an idiot.'_

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief at that.

At least until a few minutes later.

_'Not on purpose anyway.'_


	3. Secret of the best friends

Nino would admit he's not the most observant of people. He missed Marinette's crush. He missed Alya was Rena Rouge. He often misses announcements for homework and tests. He could admit that he needed to work on that. 

But he wasn't blind.

Especially when it came to Adrien. The dude had a horrible tendency to bottle things up, keep them to himself without asking. So he notices when things...shift between him and Chloe.

The thing was, Nino knows Chloe. He's been in school with her for years and ended up in her class more than once. She's always been a self entitled brat. Bragging about this expensive thing, threatening that with her dad's power, insulting and bringing people down. He had honestly been surprised at just how _nice_ Adrien was despite being friends with her since childhood. He had figured out that he wasn't a bully like Chloe fairly quickly, just maybe afraid to be alone. He didn't expect the kind of guy who was genuinely optimistic, believing in people and always eager to help and give and not in the seeking approval way Sabrina did. He couldn't understand how someone like that would still be friends with Chloe even after he had won over their classmates.

Adrien said that Chloe wasn't always like that, she could be cool sometimes. Nino had thought maybe that was just him being too nice for his own good.

Until Adrien got pulled out of school for losing that book. He knows Chloe's crocodile tears. Everyone knows Chloe's crocodile tears except Kim. Even the teachers know and only 'fall' for it because if they don't, it moves to threats.

Those hadn't been crocodile tears. After meeting Gabriel Agreste, Nino could see why Adrien held such loyalty for her. She was a horrible bully, a complete brat, but at least she was willing to show she actually cared about him. Even if she bragged about knowing him, flirted with him even though he didn't seem interested, she would at least be upset for his misfortune. So much so when she asked him to DJ her party in her efforts to be 'nice,' he agreed. If she was trying for Adrien, he could at least do what he loved for her benefit.

Not that it lasted, though she DID cause less Akumas, so there's that. And then....

Then it gets a little weird.

Because the thing was, Nino saw Chloe in a way no one else besides Alya could. How she was as Queen Bee, up close and personal. He's been in school with her for years, but he's never seen her lift a finger for a school project, never offer a helping hand, never put in a bit of effort for anyone else besides herself unless she could turn the effort into a way for why she should be loved. And sure, she bragged about being Queen Bee, of course she did, but he also fought WITH her.

She had been good. Confident and bold which was more of a comfort while fighting bad guys then the annoyance of school life. She had been quick to act, pick up slack and save people, and when Rena had been hit, she had watched their back until her parents showed up, but to be fair, they were gunning for her hard. Nino knows what it's like to be a superhero. The more he did it, the more he recognized it was scary, it was hard. The rush of superpowers helped face it, but there was a very real risk. It was why Alya and him were practicing parkour, to get better when they were recruited. And the times Chloe was Queen Bee was when things were hardest, the scariest. Her own father, Heroes Day, Miraculer and Mayura. The time where things were the most dangerous and she still wanted to be a hero and she put in the actual effort. 

He's not sure what to make of her honestly, because she is absolutely still a horrible brat even if she's gone down from an eleven to more a seven. He thinks whatever Adrien saw in her might actually be there, just buried real, real, reaaaaaaal deep.

And now there was this shift.

For as long as Adrien's been in school, most conversations between him and Chloe had mostly been Chloe bragging about something or flirting up a storm with Adrien. Or it's when Adrien is trying to get Chloe to lay off in his very gentle way of his. It was rare he ever see them just talk like the friends they both claimed they were. Adrien often treated her with the same distance he did with most of their classmates, something he's learned to recognize as uncertainty on how much he could let go of 'the perfect golden boy of Gabriel Agreste' persona. Adrien had slowly dropped it as they bonded, opened up about things piece by piece and Nino can see the stark difference when they hang out with people, and when it's just them. He's starting to relax around Alya and Marinette, thankfully, but it's a slow thing.

Then one day, Chloe had sat on the edge of his desk and showed him her phone, talking about a show she thinks he should watch. Never mentioned the name, Nino only learned it was a magical girl anime when he leaned over to look at the picture and Chloe gave him a pretty nasty glare in turn.

And he learned that one, Chloe was apparently a complete weeb which does explain the Ladybug cosplay, and two, the 'do not talk about weebitude' rule also applies to her. And three, he is trusted enough to keep silent on it? Well, he IS, he hasn't outed Adrien yet. Or the fact he was a complete nerd in a lot of ways.

It continued on like this, Chloe talking to Adrien about things other than riches and bragging, normal, everyday things, usually in terms where it's vague unless someone is paying attention and she doesn't feel the need to exclude him. Or didn't care he knew? She barely acknowledged him, he wasn't sure what it meant. But he does know Adrien was starting to relax more and more around her at school.

He asked Adrien about it once. Who had just shrugged and said they had gotten stuck together during that Akuma that had been after him shortly before the Shift and reconnected. When he asked further, Adrien shook his head and said that it was private and Nino let it go. If Adrien wants to talk about it, he will when he's ready. He knows he's here if he ever needs to.

And Nino was willing to just leave it at that. Adrien seemed happier, Chloe had less time to be rude to people, it was a win all around.

Then when he was meeting Adrien at a bookstore, a surprise hang out session, he showed up with Chloe.

"Uh, dude, why is she here?" Nino asked.

Chloe gave him a withering look. "I'm Adrien's friend. Why wouldn't I be here?" She asked.

"It was her idea," Adrien said, as Chloe made an offended noise and smacked his arm, causing him to laugh. "She knows father has to be in a really good mood to 'approve' of us hanging out. But he'll approve me hanging out with her, and if you just happen to be there..." He shrugged.

Chloe scowled, crossing her arms. "You always let me lead our hang outs. I already do that with Sabrina, I wanted a break. I thought at least he might have a suggestion," she said, earning another laugh from Adrien. "After we check out the new manga releases. There's a PreCure manga adaption out," she said, heading into the store.

"PreCure?" Nino asked as he followed after them.

"Pretty Cure. It's a magical girl series," Adrien said.

"The best magical girl series! So many fall into just the feelings and beam magic, Cure girls get real physical! They have a lot of good tips for a superheroine who relies more on martial arts," Chloe said, an excited smile on her face.

Nino honestly worried about her level of denial about no longer being Queen Bee.

"It does have pretty good fight scenes," Adrien said and nudged Nino's side. "You might like it."

"You can decide where we go next, though we've only got Adrikins for an hour and a half," Chloe said with a dismissive wave before turning into the graphic novel section.

Without the rest of their classmates, Adrien and Chloe are far more willing to show their excitement, talking about the new volume, and even trying to explain it to Nino. Well, Adrien started, then Chloe had to show how Adrien had it wrong and it was the most surreal experience in Nino's life because Chloe was actually kind of pleasant to be around? It was hard to not be pulled into their excitement even if he was incredibly confused.

They stopped in an overly fancy cafe for snacks, after a brief argument where Chloe refused to go into a normal convenience store. They compromised with Chloe and Adrien buying for Nino. He could afford normal snacks, not fifteen euros for a chocolate bar!

Then they ended up at a music store, with Nino showing Adrien samples of more underground music, and Chloe keeping mostly quiet. Only speaking up when she found piano sheet music of more modern music. But really, the fact she didn't complain about his taste in music was just another thing to add to the list of her being weird. And nearly giving him a heart attack when she asked to hear the improved mix from her party.

But eventually Adrien's schedule reared it's head and he had to go, with Chloe and Nino waving him off and he just...he had to ask.

"Dude, what has been with you?" Nino asked, fully expecting some kind of defensive snap.

"Oh shut up, I wanted to talk to you anyway and you wouldn't agree to meet me alone." Is what he gets instead.

"What?" Nino said in confusion. 

She looked around, almost bored, and pulling out her phone and gestured for him to walk with her. He followed, feeling his annoyance mounting. She wanted to talk, but then went on her phone? What the heck?

"We're going to have more outings like this," Chloe said, eyes not straying up from the phone. "It is true. It's a lot easier for Adrien to get approval if he's supposedly hanging out with me. As long as I'm there, the Gorilla is technically bringing him where he's supposed to be, and if there's others, he's willing to let it slide if Adrien's having fun. As long as he's doing his job, whatever extras there are don't matter."

"And you're sure about that?" Nino asked.

Chloe scoffed. "I've spent over ten years learning the loopholes of the Agreste Overprotection Tendencies. Of course I'm sure," she said, shifting her phone and it's then Nino realized she wasn't reading anything. Her camera was on, and it was looking at the street behind them. What...? "Don't ask about it," she said, voice lowered.

"...why are you doing this now? Wait, is this why you showed up to those group gatherings near the beginning of the year?" Nino asked, still curious about what she was doing with her phone, but not asking. For now, at least.

"No, that was me wanting to spend time with Adrikins and making sure he was okay," she said. "And I'm doing this now because I love him and I want him to have a better quality of life."

Nino glared at her. "....are you doing this to try and get him to date you?" He asked, feeling a flare of anger. If Chloe was actually trying to trick Adrien-

She looked up with a nasty glare. "Romantic love and friend love are not mutually exclusive things, Lahiffe. Adrien and I just schooled you in magical girl tropes, you should understand that," she snarled.

"I don't know. You've been weird all day, it'd make sense if you were trying to trick him," Nino shot back, unwilling to be easily cowed when it was his best friend on the line.

"The only reason you _met_ him is because of my love for him," Chloe hissed.

"What?" Nino said, taken aback.

"His father didn't approve of him going to school. How do you think he _registered_?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow.

It takes a moment. Because that's a good point. How did Adrien get in if his father didn't approve? People can't just join a class without paperwork. So how...

"Dude. Did Adrien ask...?" Nino asked, suddenly worried he read Adrien all wrong.

"Of course not. I just told him he was registered and he didn't ask how I did it," she said with a dismissive wave, looking down at her phone, moving the camera to look up near the rooftops behind them. 

....okay, that made more sense. Adrien did have a tendency to just not ask if he knew he wasn't going to like the answer. "Why? You've never made it a secret you don't like anything about our school," Nino said. 

"Because of people like you," Chloe said.

"....you keep losing me, dudette," Nino said. 

Chloe sighed, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, you're so...you've MET his father. And Nathalie. His bodyguard. The help? He doesn't interact. They're hired to be discrete and professional. They don't talk unless spoken to. The only ones Adrien has a personal relationship are those who are directly responsible for him instead of the house," she said. 

Nino frowned at that. Yeah, he knew it was pretty lonely. Cold. Adrien didn't talk about it a lot, but what little he's said combined with what Nino has seen, he knows it's not an ideal way to live. Especially with someone as lonely as Adrien had seemed to be.

"And as amazing as I am, I'm not...the best when it comes to emotions," Chloe said and Nino repressed a snort. That was one way to put it. Chloe wasn't good with most emotions or empathy in general. Nino though, he was a bit better and after the momentary moment of humor, he could see the look on her face. It was too blank, too carefully made to look unaffected. "Adrien didn't have a lot of people in his life. Nathalie and the Gorilla who barely count. His parents. And me. Then he lost his mother, his father lost whatever warmth he'd usually show, and the help was to be even more strict. I was the only emotional support Adrien had," she said, voice calm, and even. 

And it clicked in Nino's head just how rough his bro must have had it before he showed up in school. It's hard to imagine the dork he met his first day was really stuck with that mourning and only having CHLOE to help. Suddenly his running off at Christmas made a lot more sense. Just going out for air his foot.

"And it became obvious that I wasn't enough. But Adrien has always wanted to go to school, wanted to be around other kids. I figured that at worst, it was a distraction. At best..." She looked his face, gaze more impartial then anything. Familiar.

The moment she handed over the Miraculous before she got arrogant and declared she'd be Queen Bee again.

"At best, he'd find people like you."

She exited out of the camera, turning off the screen before pocketing it. "I know Adrien doesn't love me romantically. I'm not an idiot. But we do love each other, and if I had to, if I thought it'd help, I'd burn the world for that boy. Those feelings aren't going to change. And if that means encouraging his relationships with people I don't like, spending time around them, and being....nice." Only Chloe Bourgeois could say that word like it was the worst thing in the world. "Then that's what I'll do. And I think he's suffering more than he let's on and that's the only way I can see helping him right now."

"Wait, what? What do you mean suffering more?" Nino said. He's not sure how to take the rest of all that, the proof that Chloe Bourgeois can indeed care very deeply about another person, but the thought of his bro suffering? That was easy to react too.

"I have reason to believe he's more stressed out than he let's on. There's no way of convincing him to cut back on all the things he has to do, so it's important to make sure he's actually unwinding in what time he has off. So if you have something he seems like he'd want to go to, contact me. Lord knows he won't ask me for a favor on his own, I think being nice is the first real favor he's asked of me in years. So you do it and I'll do what I can to make it happen," she said and held out a hand to him. "And we'll tolerate each other to make sure he's happy. Agreed?"

Nino paused, trying to think if there was any way this was some kind of trick or ploy. But as he looked at Chloe, he didn't see Chloe the bully. There wasn't any nastiness or smugness to her expression, none of the arrogance. She looked far more like Queen Bee, confident and sure she'd do a good job.

He huffed and adjusted his cap. "Well, if it's for my bro, I can't really say no," he said, taking her hand and shaking it.

"Excellent," she said, pulling her hand away and pulling out a handkerchief to wipe her hand, earning an unimpressed look from Nino. "You have my number still?" When he nodded, and turned and started walking, towards a car at the corner. "Then talk to you later, Lahiffe."

"Yeah, later dude," Nino said, shaking his head. Of all the things he thought to come out of magic and monsters being real, he never thought Chloe showing she had a heart would be one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will forever headcanon Chloe got Adrien into school because I can literally think of no other way for why he was registered in that school. Maybe he'd be willing to forge a signature post Chat, but certainly not before.
> 
> Next is Alya and then finally a Chloe perspective chapter. Girl's got plans.


	4. Secret of journalistic intergity

The link for a top of the line laptop and a text. _'One hour of your time. You don't have to agree to anything, don't have to answer anything, just hear me out, and that's yours. Or any computer of similar value, but according to Max, most any nerd would love it.'_

Leave it to Chloe to request something while insulting someone.

Alya still pondered just saying no. It IS Chloe, after all, and they've never made it a secret how much they hate each other.

...but it _is_ a very nice laptop and she's been thinking about getting a laptop. Her phone is good for basic posting, but anything heavy duty required her desk top. Having a laptop would be really nice. And she can't pretend she's not curious. The fact Chloe is being this blunt has to mean something. And she can't think of anything she's done to earn Chloe to put in the effort to actually trick her into some humiliation. It's one thing to take the opportunity when it presents itself, but usually it takes earning it for her to go out of her way.

Plus it'd give her a chance to ask Chloe a few questions of her own. Marinette and Chloe have been weird lately. They've never gotten along, usually only hang around each other when Adrien was around or if Chloe was trying to provoke her. Lately though, Marinette keeps staring at Chloe like she's about to have a panic attack and that would be cause for pure alarm if Chloe was throwing back smug looks or some kind of taunt. Instead, she seemed to ignore Marinette completely. Even when talking with Adrien, she was more focused on him then how Marinette might be reacting.

It's weird and Marinette kept saying it was nothing.

After some long deliberation, she finally agrees, but only if they're talking out of public eye and Chloe has to let her hold her phone so she doesn't try to take any videos. She knows Chloe isn't actually dangerous, and if it is a humiliation plot, there's only so much she can do while they're alone. Plus it keeps whatever Marinette is freaked out about private.

It's clear by the curt reply that Chloe is annoyed, but agrees.

So Alya comes to Chloe's room in the Grand Paris. They get drinks, Alya gets what is actually the best thing on the menu in regards to snacks because she knows her mother's cooking, thank you very much, and it's almost like a tea party except Chloe is handing over her phone with a look at Alya like she's taking her baby as well as a card for the website. "That has enough money to pay for the laptop plus warranty. I'm sure you'll need it," Chloe said.

Well, Alya can't say she's wrong. "Let me just check," she said, pulling out her phone even as Chloe rolls her eyes. She goes to the website and checks the balance on the card. And there it was. She hummed and pocketed the card and her phone and set Chloe's phone down on the floor beside her feet. "All right. You have one hour," she said.

"You're far too kind," Chloe said with all the insincerity she could muster. "I know you want to ask, so let's get it out of the way, but I'm not letting you drag it out," she said, picking up her tea to take a sip.

"What did you do to Marinette?" Alya asked, glaring at the girl.

"Absolutely nothing," Chloe said, prim and calm. "I found out something. She knows I know."

"And you threatened to tell?" Alya demanded.

"No, I have no intentions of telling anyone," she said.

And that. Catches Alya off guard. "....you can't expect me to believe you. You hate Marinette!"

"Yes, but I know Adrien finding out about her little crush isn't going to be the world ending event she's convinced herself it is," Chloe said with a scoff.

And that...

Well, yeah, that WOULD explain it, wouldn't it? Really, Alya loved Marinette, she did, but the girl jumped to some pretty big conclusions. She seemed convinced if Adrien found out about her feelings, he'd either be madly in love with her, or would try to get her exiled to Tibet. Of course she'd freak out if Chloe of all people 'found out' even though it was obvious to most people with eyes that Marinette had feelings for Adrien.

"Seriously? That's what the girl has been stressed out about?" Alya asked, lightly facepalming.

"I know! It's actually sad enough, I can't even enjoy taunting her with it," Chloe said with a despairing shrug. 

"Is that really why?" Alya asked, disbelieving.

"Hmm. Well. She did throw that party for me. Maybe I'm a little grateful," Chloe said, picking up a cream puff. "Feel free to tell her, I'm sure she'll never believe you. No one else will."

Alya scowled and sat back, crossing her arms. "I'm not sure I believe that's the only reason why she's freaked out."

"Then ask her. I'm not a monster, despite what you might think," Chloe said dryly. "I have limits to what I might do, even to Dupain-Cheng."

Which. Alya did actually believe. Oh, she hated Chloe, without a doubt. But what Chloe didn't know was that she was Rena Rouge. She knew despite Chloe being Chloe, it was obvious she had been dedicated to being a superhero. She had even apologized after losing Mayura. She had handed back the Miraculous with a surprising amount of grace. Chloe was a terrible person, could be outright vile, but she knows she's caused less Akuma's lately, and no one can put that much effort in a life or death scenario and NOT have something noble in them.

It's like Mylene said. It's just really deep down.

Alya considered her a few moments more and she sighed. "All right. I'll believe you. For now. Why am I here?" She asked, picking up her tea to take a drink.

"A few reasons, but first? I want your help to figure out how to get her and Adrien dating," Chloe said.

Alya choked on her tea, barely managing to not spit it out. She grabbed a napkin, coughing violently into it. Chloe just kept nibbling the pastry, waiting. "You want-YOU want to play _matchmaker?_ For Marinette and Adrien?! I thought you wanted him?!" She demanded as soon as she got air in her lungs.

"I did," she said. "And no, I'm not going to explain the story behind that. I've accepted I'm not going to win his heart, but he is still my childhood friend. I'm invested in his happiness and as much as it pains me, Marinette can give it to him. If she stopped being a coward and he stopped being as dense as a rock."

"Marinette is not a coward!" Alya snapped angrily.

"She is when it comes to Adrien," Chloe shot back.

Alya opened her mouth. Then closed it. Okay, Marinette was kind of a coward when it came to Adrien.

"I have a deal with Lahiffe. You can ask him in case you're afraid I'm trying to do something underhanded, but I told him if he thinks Adrien wants to go somewhere, then I'll use my pull as the 'approved' friend to get Adrien permission to go. I'm offering that up to you plus any insider information to set up a proper atmosphere. Of course, outings will need to be group at first, and Marinette needs to get a back bone before we leave them alone too long. If the Gorilla figures out Adrien is off alone with someone else too often, it might shake my pull. He's more than willing to look the other way at Adrien having 'more' as long as the literal orders are met. Which is 'watch Adrien while he's with Chloe,' or along those lines," Chloe said with a wave of her hand, picking up a finger sandwich. 

"Whose the Gorilla?" Alya asked, looking confused.

"Hm? Oh, a nickname for Adrien's bodyguard. We called him that all the time as children and just never stopped. I think he thinks it's cute, at least he doesn't glare at me for it," Chloe said with a shrug. "I can't remember what his real name is anymore anyway."

"Huh," Alya said, tapping the table. "And you're doing this....for Adrien?"

"Yes," Chloe said simply.

"Not some under handed way to break Marinette's heart or something?" She asked.

"I have no control what Adrien's answer will be," Chloe said. "And I don't think he's aware of just how fond he is of Marinette. But I have seen a lot of girls kiss that boy's cheek, Alya. A lot. I've kissed his cheek a lot." She was looking down at her tea, expression sullen. "He's never looked at any of them the way he looked at Marinette." She sighed and looked up, composing herself again. "So, we need to expose him to her more. We need to sent up scenarios so he'll think about her more in that light. So hopefully when her backbone finally kicks in, he won't be an idiot."

Alya stared at Chloe, silent for a long while. She doesn't look away, though she can see Chloe's eyes getting more distant. Like it's hard to keep the strong face this time.

Before, Alya would have never believed her. Thought it was a plot, a trap of some sort. But she saw Chloe give up the Miraculous without a fight, because it was right. Because Ladybug asked. She knows she didn't want to. Alya knows it's hard to give up the Miraculous, even if it's right to and that's her. She can only imagine how hard it is for a girl as selfish as Chloe. And to do it after Ladybug hurt her by telling her she wouldn't be Queen Bee anymore to boot.

She finds herself believing that maybe she was actually being honest. For Adrien's sake.

"Why are you sure Marinette would make Adrien happy?" She asked.

Chloe snapped to attention and actually glared at that. She scoffed and drank the rest of her tea. She grabbed the pot to pour more. "Marinette encourages people. She listens to people. Adrien needs people like that in his life. But when she stops being so star struck, she'll be able to handle him when he's being a brat. And I assure you, he can be a brat, just not often," she said, starting to put sugar into her tea. "She'll be able to take all he is when he let's down his barriers and I do think she'll still love him. I don't know why she fell in love with him, but she isn't the kind to use someone's fame or connections, especially since she's doing well enough on her own to make her own name. She'll give him the love and support he deserves and she'll have a guy who will adore her, I guess, but I think she'll push him to be better than he is right now because that's what she's been doing so far and ugh, do I really need to keep saying nice things about Dupain-Cheng?" She asked, finally devolving into a whine.

"Yeah, especially since you ruined your tea," Alya said with a smug grin, pointing down to the cup that had a pile of sugar just under the surface.

Chloe looked down and scowled. She stood up, picking up the tea cup and moving to the private bath as Alya laughed to herself. She comes back, over sugared contents having been dumped in the sink, and pours herself another cup.

"All right. I'm willing to believe you're doing this for Adrien's sake," Alya said. Then gave her a hard look. "But I swear if this is some plot to hurt Marinette..."

"Yes, yes, you'll destroy me somehow," Chloe said with a roll of her eyes. "If you're worried about Marinette, I'm not the one you need to watch."

"What? Who else would want to hurt her?" Alya asked, looking caught off guard.

"Lila," Chloe said.

Alya groaned. "Seriously? Nino confirmed it, Lila has no interest in Adrien," she said.

Chloe laughed. "You really think Nino can tell if a girl likes a guy?"

"He asked her!" Alya said, throwing up her hands.

"Which doesn't do a lot of good if she's a liar," she said.

"Just because she has an eventful life doesn't mean she's a liar! She's been nothing, but nice since she got here."

"And yet Marinette hates her."

"Because she's jealous!"

"Marinette doesn't lie when she's jealous."

"And how would you know?"

"Because I saw how she reacted to Kagami," Chloe said. "I know she can be mean when it comes to Adrikins, but I had to talk her into it, with her complaining the whole time, never once saying a bad thing about Kagami. She made it very clear her only problem was Adrien might actually run off to Japan with Kagami. If she's being cruel unprompted, it's not fueled by jealousy alone."

"Wait, when did this happen?" Alya asked, looking shocked.

"A few weeks ago. But long story short, we just tried to make it so the girl would have to go home and change or risk embarrassing her family. I never saw a lick of hate, and Kagami is far more likely to steal Adrien then Lila," she said, flipping over a sheet of paper she had on the table beside her. Showing Alya the picture of Lila kissing Adrien's cheek. "That? That is Adrien's 'don't cause a scene because of the handsy girl' face. He would not consent to a selfie like that. Certainly not one that got sent to everyone in class," she said. 

"So she got a little enthusiastic, I'm sure he told her not to do it again," Alya said.

"Oh, he definitely would not. Adrien has trouble coming to other people's defenses when it might cause a scene, let alone himself. About the only time Adrien sticks to his bodyguard is when he goes to events where stuff like this might happen a lot specifically because the Gorilla would stop this from happening," Chloe said.

"I'm sure she didn't mean any harm! It's just a misunderstanding!"

"Except it doesn't explain why Marinette hates her. But if she's a liar? Oh, it'd explain a whole lot. Marinette hates liars with a passion. You know that and I know that."

"Why are you even talking about Lila? What does she have to do about getting Adrien and Marinette together?" Alya demanded, trying to stamp down her rage at Chloe bad mouthing her new friend. Lila is new. Maybe a little enthusiastic about making friends, misunderstandings happen! She knows how hard it is to be new.

"Because you're supposed to be a reporter and check your facts," Chloe said, leaning forward, crossing her arms on the table. "So why the heck did you make a post about Lila saying she's best friends with Ladybug on your blog?"

"Because she is!" Alya said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Really? _Really?_ How do they maintain their friendship?" Chloe demanded.

"Because she has a magic way to contact Ladybug," Alya insisted.

"Ah, yes, the magic spell. So, let me ask you this, Alya Cesaire, why did this girl get this close to Ladybug, get this special contact, within a few days of moving to Paris, _before_ the number one reporter of all things Ladybug, and the girl who had been making Akumas on a weekly basis?" Chloe said, leading forward more. "Ladybug, who has told reporters off before for asking unprofessional questions, who never stays and chats beyond her duty, whose been unerringly professional. Why would she give special contact like that to some girl when she could give it to two people who have been first on the scene of many Akuma attacks? You know, a spell that would possibly let her know about danger faster instead of relying on the News or making sure her phone is on to get an alert from your blog? Why wouldn't she give it to me after I was made Queen Bee so I didn't have to rely on a giant light in the sky?"

Alya opened her mouth. Then she closed her mouth because, well, Chloe had a point. Anytime Ladybug needed Rena Rouge, she'd have to waste time on finding Alya. She wasn't always on the scene when she was recruited, after all.

"...and more than that," Chloe said. "And I will sue you for slander if you post this on the blog, because of some things I'll get into later, but Ladybug told me it's dangerous to ask for Queen Bee's help anymore. Because my identity is known. It puts my family and me in danger. She keeps that secret identity to keep herself and her loved ones safe. In what world do you think she would ever, _ever_ trust someone that intimately who goes around saying she's Ladybug's BFF, they're close, she knows all sorts of things and let herself get interviewed on a blog most of Paris keeps an eye on? If it was true, it puts a big target right on her back to get hunted down and hurt repeatedly, the last thing Ladybug wants for anyone she cares about."

Alya was silent at that because Chloe had a good point. She had a lot of good points. Alya herself saw Ladybug tell Chloe she can't be Queen Bee because of that very concern.

"Plus Adrien and I saw Jagged Stone the first day he arrived. He came in with a crocodile," Chloe said, sitting back. "And he had a whole list of weird demands. That was a pet he had for a while."

Alya was staring down at the table, a feeling of dread growing in her stomach. Was it true? Was Lila lying this whole time? It's true, it would drive Marinette insane. And she has been weirdly insistent on it. Even for jealously, surely she would be at least a little inconsistent, right?

"....people who lie that often," Chloe started, looking away. "They hate being called out. Either they're desperately insecure, convince themselves it's true, or it's all about controlling and manipulating people. I can't say which one Lila is exactly, but I can tell you now, she's not honest. And if Marinette hates her and makes it known she doesn't believe Lila, there's a good chance it might come down to her word versus Lila's and no way the liar is gonna back down from Marinette. I'd be ready to fact check her before she feels threatened," she said.

"....I guess it wouldn't hurt to at least confirm her stories. Rose can talk to Prince Ali. And Jagged Stone is here, maybe I can talk to him about him those times he had to deal with Akuma's for the blog and just see if he remembers her," Alya said.

"Exactly. You don't even need to talk to her about it. If she does as much as she says, then surely people will remember her," Chloe said, grabbing another cream puff.

Alya nodded, grabbing her teacup, just to hold it. She didn't like it. Doubting a friend. A friend whose helped her. But not as much as Marinette. No one could compare to Marinette. But she'd doubted Marinette a lot, hadn't she? No, Marinette deserved Alya at least seeing if it was true. Maybe if she brought proof, she could show Marinette, and her and Lila could finally talk it out? Yeah, she's sure this is all just a misunderstanding, she just needed proof.

"That all?" Alya finally asked.

"...no," Chloe said, grabbing another cream puff, popping it into her mouth. Then she flipped over the other pieces of paper, showing a few pictures. All blurry, at a distance, hard to make out. It'd be hard to say what the image was.

If Alya didn't immediately know and she fights to react. Because while one picture has Queen Bee in it on top of a building, the other photos aren't. Some could be the same day, yet others showed signs of destruction, altered skies from other Akuma attacks. They're all at a distance and it's obvious she's trying to not be seen, but she knew who it was.

It was Mayura.

"What am I looking at? An Akuma?" Alya asked.

"No. That's Mayura," Chloe said. "Remember the strange moth creature that appeared on Heroes Day? After the scarlet army was defeated and we were confronting Hawk Moth?" She asked, Alya slowly nodding her head. "That wasn't him. That was someone else." She tapped the picture. "That is the Peacock Miraculous user."

"They've appeared? Why haven't they showed up with any Akuma's?" Alya asked.

"If they're never in sight, they can't be caught, probably. Ladybug and Chat Noir are pros at getting magical items off supervillains," Chloe said with a shrug. "That's just a theory. But I've been wondering if you've gotten any other pictures of her. People send Akuma sightings to you, don't they?"

Alya nodded, and the truth was, she had gotten a picture or two of Mayura. Not this many this. Usually only once every few weeks from Heroes Day. "I thought maybe it was a joke since usually the Akuma at the time looked totally different," she said.

"I think she's doing something else," she said.

"What?" Alya asked, picking up the pictures. They're all pictures low to the ground, too.

Chloe grabbed another cream puff and stuffed her mouth. 

Alya looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Chloe?"

She grabbed her tea cup, taking another drink.

"Chloe!"

"I'm not sure. Not yet," Chloe said with a groan, slumping forward, hand over her face. "But I have some ideas, but I need to talk to Ladybug about it."

"I thought you said it's dangerous for her to use Queen Bee," Alya pointed out.

"It is! But it's not like I never see them or anything.... " she said, looking way.

"True. You do still cause Akuma's."

"I've gone way down and you know it!" Chloe snapped.

Alya hummed. "Why are you showing me this?"

"....I don't think Ladybug has realized how much she's moving around yet," Chloe said, rubbing her temple. "And I still...I still want to help. So. If you get a sighting of Mayura, I'd like if you could pass the information on to me. And. Keep her existence off the blog for right now."

"What? You can't ask me to hide a supervillain!" Alya protested. Honestly, she'd been trying to figure out how to post about Mayura without making it obvious she had been a superhero. Chloe saw that whole encounter and she's pretty sure she's not that dumb.

"And if one of my theories is correct, you could totally ruin a chance to catch her!" Chloe snapped, a fist hitting the table.

"I won't-catch her?" Alya said, looking confused.

"...yes," Chloe said, sitting back. "If I'm right, it's a situation that Ladybug could turn around. But only if Mayura doesn't suspect a thing. If Ladybug tells you about the existence of Mayura and gives the go ahead, okay, fine. Whatever. But I'm....asking you. As a....f....favor. To tell her to come talk to me first before she gives permission. In case it's a bad idea," Chloe said. Looking away. Then up again. "....please."

"...that looked painful."

"It really was."

Alya looked down at the photos. It's a roll of the dice how soon Chloe would see Ladybug. But Ladybug was calling on her more and more for help and she was always willing to take a question or two for the Ladyblog. She could at least send her Chloe's way, see what's up. It might delay sharing Mayura a week, maybe. 

She looked up at Chloe. Chloe who was offering to help Marinette get her happy ending. Chloe who may have kept her from being taken for a ride, in case Lila really is as bad as Marinette said. At least giving her an idea on how to fix the problem if nothing else.

Chloe who still gave back that Bee Miraculous.

Alya sighed. "Fine. I'll send Ladybug your way, but the moment Ladybug gives the okay afterwards, I'm doing it," she said. "And she'll get all the Mayura information from me too, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to send the info to you for now. And I guess there's no reason to post about Queen Bee, public opinion really turned around on you after Heroes Day. It wouldn't reassure anyone to say you're on the bench for good."

Chloe sighed, slumping a bit. Then she shook her head and sat up again. "Then that's all I wanted to talk about." A very long pause. "Th....thank you."

Alya snickered. "You should see your face right now."

"Don't push it," she said flatly.

Alya laughed and sat up, grabbing the beef patties. "I'm going to take these with me. No need to waste them," she said.

Chloe waved her away. "Yes, yes, take it, I'm not going to eat it," she said.

"Thanks for the laptop. I'll talk to Nino, see what he thinks of your offer and we'll call you later."

She's still a little on the fence of how much she wants to work with Chloe, but a journalist checks her sources. She can decide what she'll do once she's verified what she can and get Nino's take on the situation.

And it's not like she totally hated working with Queen Bee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....if anyone is going to see through Lila's lies, it's going to be Chloe. That was classic turn around at the end of the episode and I will choose to believe she knows better to deal with that without a plan of attack. Better to retreat and bring her down later when she has the advantage.


	5. Secrets of the queen

Chloe was many things. She could admit to herself she had some flaws.

But being an idiot was not one of them.

She just had things she prioritized putting the effort into. She didn't need good grades, just no embarrassing grades. She didn't need to read books written by people who've been dead centuries or whatever. The fact was, most things in her life, she could get just with her status and money and that wasn't going to change. Why put in effort for things that weren't going to help her in the long run and she held no interest in?

When it was worth the effort, though, she was clever. She knew the ways to get under people's skins, she knew what made for good blackmail, she knew how to claim ideas as her own, and what were good ones in the first place. She understood how physics worked just fine. She preferred the most direct way to get what she wanted, but if she needed to sabotage an entire party's chairs and trick a musician to place a cake in the right spot to get a girl to go home and change to miss a movie, then she would do it. Admittedly, she might have gotten better at that sort of thing because she loved learning all she could about Ladybug's fights, even one's she hadn't seen, and sometimes her plans were utterly ridiculous, if brilliant.

In short, Chloe knew how to read people, at least when it came to the worst of them. She's a little more hazy on the nice spectrum of things, but when it came to the devious, she was a pro.

It had been part of why she was so mad at Ladybug. She understood, she did, about the danger to her family and herself with her exposed identity. She got it, she hadn't even planned to declare identity like that. She just had seen her mother declare Marinette of all people to be exceptional, offering her a trip to New York, within only minutes of knowing the girl, while she barely remembered Chloe's name and she had just....

She had seen red. She hadn't been able to hold her tongue like she usually did with her mother, just wanted her to acknowledge her, and then she said there was nothing exceptional and she had acted on an impulse. But she had acted, so she committed.

Really, she would have preferred the original plan of showing up the next time an Akuma attacked, make a great impression on Ladybug and Paris, maybe even get her gratitude for finding the Miraculous! Then she could be recruited properly and help her heroine and show her just how exceptional and useful she was. It was why she grilled Pollen for all the info on how her powers and weapon worked, so she knew what she was doing!

Though maybe it was better she messed up like that first. It was....probably a lesson she needed, how it was to be a bad superhero.

She messed up in a lot of ways and she could see that. But she thought Ladybug was better than that. Ladybug knew, she KNEW Chloe was waiting to help. Would rush up to her light with every attack, ready and willing to help. And it's not like Ladybug didn't know where she lived! But with how often she recruited Rena Rouge and Carapace and not her, with Chloe making up excuse after excuse to explain why she wasn't chosen...

It had been a while, since she decided to not recruit Chloe. She could have at least given her the respect to tell her that instead of letting her hope.

Not to mention she sent an injured Chat to give her the Miraculous when they had already encountered Miraculer, where did they THINK Sabrina was gonna go?

The whole Miraculer incident had left Chloe feeling frustrated, conflicted in regards to Ladybug. Because it was clear the heroine hadn't respect her enough to just talk to her and that hurt. Especially when Chloe was trying so hard.

Hawk Moth and Mayura both tried to recruit her. She said no to dark magic because she wanted to believe in Ladybug and she couldn't even do that much. It had made her angry, bitter, she had pondered maybe just giving up on this whole trying to be a better thing. After all, the heroes didn't value her enough to talk to her, and the villains were practically begging for her.

But Chloe Bourgeois is not a quitter so she decided screw it. She'd double down. Ladybug says she can't be a hero anymore? Well, she'd show her! She'd be a hero even without superpowers! Saving people was just as important as defeating the villain, and she was an expert at Akuma dodging by this point!

It had been that mindset that had led to her lingering more during Akuma attacks, seeing if people were really out of the way before getting to safety, and it's then she had noticed.

The bird.

Mayura. 

It had been by chance, Chloe had been checking over a wall with her phone to see if anyone was there, but the screen had been flipped to take a picture behind her. And there the bird was, at a distance.

And she realized the villains didn't know she'd been benched completely. At least not sure, not at first. The stalking did taper off, Mayura only sometimes showing up the worst Akuma attacks and Chloe...Chloe wonders if....

Then she found out Adrien was Chat Noir.

~~~

Mentally, Chloe could wrap her head around Adrien being a superhero. He was kind, he was noble. He would also absolutely adore the superpowers because nothing said 'daddy can't stop me' like the ability to leap tall buildings and punch through doors and that's without his Catacalysm. And the fact Chat was Like That...well, of course. Adrien rarely got to just be his completely dorky, extra, romantic self without consequence, of course he was Like That. Logically, it all made sense.

Emotionally, it was a lot harder because Chat's done a whole heck of a lot to keep her safe and almost died because Ladybug _sent the injured cat boy where the Akuma was going_ for some stupid reason. It's one thing when it's some stranger, he signed up for this life, he knew what he was doing. And. And okay, that last thing had been kind of disturbing. She didn't hate Chat just because he was second fiddle, especially when she hadn't even been able to help when she wanted to.

Having it be Adrien was just so much worse. This wasn't the guy who saved her and her sometimes teammate, this was her dearest friend, the person she grew up with, and he almost died.

And no one knew, except his kwami. She had seen Chat Noir and Ladybug enough to know they didn't know each others identities. Which meant already emotional support lacking Adrien was dealing with superhero stress mostly alone and she...

She couldn't take that.

So she decided that even if it meant outing herself as a geek, she was going to work on being a better friend. 

First and foremost by cutting back her flirting. Chat Noir loved Ladybug. Adrien loved Ladybug and that....she can't pretend she's surprised. She knew Adrien didn't love her like that. But she had hoped she could turn it around. She always had an emotional edge over other girls, Adrien trusted her enough to be himself around her when they were alone, so it wasn't hopeless and he was making other friends, so it wasn't like she had to focus more on him then herself in their relationship. 

But Adrien is in love with Ladybug, who is still amazing despite her own anger at her, and Adrien needs someone to be support for the superhero stress so she'd. Stop. At least for now. Because she's pretty sure Ladybug isn't in love with Adrien so she can wait until he gets over her and he's in a better place! She could be patient. Adrien was worth her patience.

Plus she was making other things better. Getting more proactive in helping him hang out with his friends. It wasn't like she hated Nino or anything, he was actually one of the more tolerable people she's gone to school with. He kept out of the way and _sometimes_ his music was enjoyable. And Adrien trusted him. 

And he got Akumatized for Adrien's sake and that gets a few bonus points right there.

The rest of their classmates weren't bad either. Alix rubbed her the wrong way, but Alix didn't go after anyone nice either. Overall, their class was full of people good for someone as trusting and kind as Adrien.

She talked to him more like a friend. Talked Nino into helping her get Adrien more time with his other friends. She was even debating the pros and cons of talking to Kagami. She's still mostly on cons.

And every evening after an Akuma attack that looked bad, she visited the Agreste home. Sometimes through the front doors. Sometimes through the back because they've snuck around more than once. She watched movies and TV shows with him, sometimes let him trounce her in video games because she's far better at RPGs then racing or fighting games. And if sometimes he curls up close to her or her to him, they don't make a big deal about it because they talk when they need to talk.

She's sure this was the right idea after the Nice Guy incident. Of course she'd been freaking out for other reasons, so she was grateful for the distraction.

Because when she was debating if she should go to the bakery, Chat had showed up on her balcony and detransformed, Adrien asking to watch Fruits Basket.

He had been quiet for the first five episodes.

"Do you think Chat acts entitled to Ladybug?" Adrien finally asked.

Chloe is surprised by that question. "...what makes you think he might?"

Adrien is silent a while, playing with the Ladybug pillow he had stolen from her bed. "Sometimes she....she does outright reject an advance. Not her playful redirect, but pretty bluntly, and it gets hard to be around her. She says I sulk. And....and well, I may have said she's the only one who doesn't see we're made for each other after she said we weren't a couple-"

"You've acted entitled," Chloe said bluntly.

Adrien groaned and buried his face in the Ladybug pillow he stole from her bed.

Chloe sighed, ruffling his hair because she knows he doesn't care, especially if Chat is an indication. Plus sometimes it was good to remind him he doesn't need to be 'perfect' in front of her. She stood up, moving to her closet to grab the fluffiest blankets she had. "I don't blame you. Most of your experience in romance is from media, and there's far too many stories that rely on a guy being relentless in his pursuit. It's one thing in a movie where you know the guy is ultimately harmless, but a girl can't give that much of a benefit of a doubt. Frankly, it's probably only because of how much Ladybug trusts you that she hasn't knocked you flat," she said. "But she's a professional, she wouldn't like it if you got sulky on the job just because....what? No fraternization?" She asked, moving back over to drape the blanket over his shoulders.

"She's in love with another boy," Adrien said. "Who hasn't noticed her yet, apparently. He must be blind."

And it's in that moment, right then, that some important facts clicked in Chloe's head.

Adrien is Chat Noir.

Marinette is Ladybug.

Chat Noir loves Ladybug.

Marinette loves Adrien.

At least one of the reasons Ladybug has rejected Chat Noir is because she's in love with Adrien.

And Adrien hasn't realized Marinette who is Ladybug is in love with him.

"Restroom," she said suddenly.

"What?" Adrien said, looking up in surprise.

"Restroom," she said again and turned to retreat to her bathroom. She grabs her towels, bundling them up together before pressing her face against them.

And _screams._

~~~

It had taken about a half hour before Chloe had composed herself enough to leave the bathroom and then her and Adrien had a very, very long talk about the do's and don't's of flirting. Chloe may not be well liked at their school, but she's pretty and rich, and has been hit on more than her fair share of entitled boys. Adrien for his part is receptive. Chloe knows he doesn't trust most of what she says on how to interact with people, but Chloe knew creeps and had a very low threshold for them. If anything, her limits were probably stricter than most.

Though he pointed out a few times where she seemed to do what she said he shouldn't do, which had led to a lot of flustered sputtering. Okay. Okay, trying to kiss him for the movie was probably a little much, she'd....she'd watch that. Or so she told him. She didn't want to admit she'd decided to stop flirting with him for now. Maybe ever. She'd figure it out.

And she recommended he also talk to Kim because Kim really is very good at not being a creep about his affections while making them clear. So long as he's not Akumatized, but he can't really be blamed for being _hurt._

Also probably apologize to Ladybug and see if she thought he crossed any lines.

It gave him plenty to think about.

They'd watch more Fruits Basket until he finally heads home and despite the apparent stupidity, Chloe is relieved some of her efforts weren't in vain. He sought her out for comfort and that was a win in her book.

~~~

Of course, there was the problem that MARINETTE WAS LADYBUG.

Which frankly explained a whole lot. Why she rejected her mother's offer. Why she seemed intent on being _nice_ to Chloe after certain incidents. Why she was a coward and didn't talk to her. It was quite the slap in the face because she had been a tiny bit grateful to Marinette for those times she was outright nice and helping with her mother. It didn't get rid of all their animosity, but when Marinette had decided to study at Chloe and Sabrina's table sometimes, she let her.

It's a trick Chloe knows some people do when they won't want to be bothered. Sabrina might do the work, but Chloe has to be there and she has a tendency to be bored. If someone is quiet, and she has no inclinations to mess with them that day, they can just do their work. Anyone starting a conversation is begging for Chloe to say something and everyone knows it. Most avoid it. It meant people could probably work in peace.

She had been surprised Marinette had been that comfortable to do it, probably desperate, so she let it be.

She's pretty mad about it now because Marinette could hang out with her in the library, but _not talk to her?_

Does explain the times Ladybug was pretty harsh with her though. She does have to give kudos for Marinette's poker face.

Which meant...which meant Marinette Dupain-Cheng always worked so hard to keep Chloe safe despite how often they fought. Chloe the Akuma maker and she went out of her way to help Chloe with her mother, and even if she didn't want to be exceptional for being mean, at least her mother was giving her attention.

It had left her with even more complicated feelings then she started with. 

Especially when she factors in the crush she had on Ladybug. Still had on Ladybug even if she was mad and hurt.

She almost wanted to laugh. Maybe cry. Definitely screamed in her pillow several times because of course. Of course the two people she's ever legitimately held romantic feelings for were in love with each other and _were complete morons about it!_

And now. Now Marinette was avoiding her like the plague. Any guilt Chloe had felt for that second text vanished when the next day Marinette had literally jumped down from the front steps into the bushes to avoid her. No, she deserves the trolling because now she's avoiding Chloe _again_ instead of talking to her. Chloe's more than once tried to organize a meeting with her through texts she ignored and in person only to have her vanish in some stupid way.

She ended up watching Marinette enough to notice how she reacted to Lila and she ended up just asking Adrien if ladybug ever mentioned the girl who went around saying they were friends and boy, boy the look he had then was quite something. He said Lila should never be trusted when it comes to anything Ladybug and he's not sure what he thinks of her.

Which really, the moment Adrien says he doesn't know what to think of someone, Chloe is pretty sure it means they definitely murdered a puppy. She understands why he doesn't tell her details. He never likes starting confrontations, or hurt people's feelings when they deserve it, something Chloe would have no problem doing. But it was enough information to know what to look for.

So she watched more, Marinette, and the interactions between Lila and Marinette, and Chloe knows when someone is giving that 'smug look when no one is looking.'

In the end, it came down to her deciding to either focus on the pain, her confusing feelings, or start doing something about this whole mess. About several messes.

Because these things, they were worth the effort.

First was the whole stupid....lovesquare situation. She may have complicated feelings for Marinette, but she loved Adrien and when her feelings are three fourths for, then she'd put aside her feelings and play matchmaker. At least if Marinette has a hard time facing hard conversations, at least she won't control Adrien and he deserves a break from that. Plus the whole situation was just...

It was so STUPID. She couldn't just let it sit. It was too dumb, and she was gonna fix it. Get the ball rolling in the right direction and they can sink or swim on their own. At least Marinette won't drag him out of Paris.

The Lila situation she didn't even need to do much for, not when she already knew she'd need Alya for the stupid lovebirds. Chloe just needed to find out a few of Lila's tall tales and pick them apart because she could actually take things with a grain of salt unlike her classmates. Challenge Alya's pride and she's sure the girl will find out information one way or another and if not, she'll find another way to deal with Lila. She knew she'd have to eventually because Marinette only had so much she could take and she could not be allowed to be Akumatized. But this was the least troublesome way to start.

And finally.

Well, Chat said he can't decide on her being Queen Bee again.

And whatever Marinette feels for her, Ladybug at least tries to do her job well.

Queen Bee prefers to be straight forward. Superheroines shouldn't need to be sneaky or underhanded to get the job done.

But Chloe? Chloe could be incredibly sneaky and the more insulted she is, the more underhanded she's willing to be.

She fully intended to be Queen Bee, without stealing or forcing Ladybug to give her the MIraculous. She would prove she's good enough to be worthy even with her identity known. In fact made better with it known.

Because Chloe is not heartless. She's not a quitter. She's definitely not an idiot.

And she knew exactly how to capture a certain bird.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what started as 'Chloe finds out and has no patience for the lovesquare nonsense' that went to 'man, Ladybug made some bad decisions in Miraculer that would lead to a lot more complicated feelings' and finally settled on 'you know, those kids are missing some serious advantages that Chloe's unique situation could provide.'
> 
> I adore Marinette and she's a clever girl, but she's terrible at the long game. Chloe, meanwhile, has a score to settle and is far more willing to manipulate.
> 
> Also Lila salt. So much Lila salt.


	6. Secret of the bugs

"I have a question," Chloe said, flipping a page in her comic that Nathanial and Marc had been selling at school. She knew they didn't have all the details right, but they would make up other Akumas and clever solutions and even if details were wrong, it was possible that some of the ideas could be helpful in the future. As much as she liked the brute force approach, she knew that may not always be viable and she wanted to improve as a superheroine.

"What is it?" Adrien said, reading the newest update of some light novel adaption on his phone, laying across her lap. It had been an interesting discovery after Chloe knew his identity. She had known Adrien was always a little touch starved, but apparently he'd act like an outright lapcat given the chance. What had simply leaning against each other usually ended up with Adrien actually laying on her in some way. Over her lap or legs, on her back, whatever he could get away with without being completely improper, and usually he'd try to steal her hand to pet his hair.

It was a little weird. And kind of adorable. She's pretty sure he purred once.

"Why were you the one who gave me the Miraculous? With Miraculer?" She asked.

"I don't know who Rena Rouge and Carapace are," Adrien said and there's an edge to his voice. Easy to miss.

Resigned to listening. 

"Huh. Guess it was good I revealed myself or you'd have had a hard time at Heroes Day getting all three of us," Chloe said, shifting her hold on the comic and reaching down to run her fingers through his hair.

"Yeah. Yeah, we would have," Adrien said softly, tension melting away under her hand.

~~~

It took about a week.

The familiar whir of a yo-yo and Chloe was pausing the TV and the playback of the Akuma earlier that day. Rena Rouge had helped out again and she tried not to feel disappointed about that fact.

"Just come in," she called over to the balcony, the door open to let in fresh air, and she reaches for the room phone, pressing a familiar number. "Jean Paul, bring up some chocolates and that jasmine tea. The one mixed with some other flower. Knock, don't come in," she said before hanging up. She saw the shadow and tilted her head back against the couch to look up at a very serious faced Ladybug.

"I don't plan to be here long, Chl-" She started.

"We have a lot to talk about, and whatever got under your skin, I'm not stopping if you don't even hear me out," Chloe said.

It had been a while since Ladybug had given her a glare that impressive. It was far more often a look Marinette had. Chloe tried to ignore how she thought that was a good look on Ladybug and what that might have said about her taste in women.

Ladybug growled and moved over to take a seat in a nearby armchair, crossing her arms and legs, giving Chloe a disapproving look. "You need to stop trying to go after Mayura. You'll just make yourself a target," she said.

About what Chloe expected. "So did Alya tell Ladybug that, or did Marinette hear it?" She asked with an amused look.

"This isn't a game, Chloe!" Ladybug said, slamming her first on the arm of the chair.

"Of course not, that's why I don't brag about how Ladybug and I are like this and I know secret things about her," Chloe said, twisting her fingers together. 

"You claimed I was your friend all the time!" Ladybug said, throwing up her hands.

"But I never claimed we hang out all the time, just that you adored me, which is a reasonable thing for me to claim," Chloe preened, flicking her hair over her shoulder.

Ladybug groaned, facepalming lightly, her hand resting against her face.

"And for your information, I was not exactly seeking Mayura out," she said.

Which seemed to catch Ladybug off guard, taking a moment to recognize whatever rant she had been about to give. She probably had a whole speech prepared. "What do you mean you're not seeking her out?" Ladybug asked carefully.

"You can detransform. I don't know what your kwami eats, but no one hates chocolate," Chloe said.

Ladybug narrowed her eyes, then she looked around suspiciously.

Chloe sighed and rolled her eyes. "Marinette, I'm not going to reveal your identity," she said, standing up as the knock came at her door. Jean Claude was always so prompt. She let Ladybug think about that a minute as she took the tray and sent him away. She locked the door behind her and came back to Ladybug looking at her as if she was trying to figure out a puzzle.

"Why not?" She demanded. "It'd get you a lot of attention. The person who figured out Ladybug. People would fawn over you for a while," she said.

"And Hawk Moth would murder you in your sleep," Chloe said, pouring them both a cup, and being more careful to not oversugar her tea this time. "Or at least rip your earlobes off."

Ladybug jerked, surprised by the bluntness. "What?"

"What? I'm not an idiot, I told you. You think I would have accepted your decision about my maybe never being Queen Bee again if I didn't understand your reasoning? If I was in danger, you definitely would be. You're vital," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "Selling out your identity means dooming all of Paris. I'm not a supervillain."

Ladybug was silent at that. Chloe put on a calm expression, maybe a bit annoyed, but her usual face. Nibbling on a chocolate and enjoying her tea, trying to look unaffected. But every moment of silence just made something ugly twist inside her. Really? She gets it, she's been horrible to Marinette, she's been horrible for years, but she thought after Queen Bee, she at least had a little faith in her. Was she so unredeemable-

"Tikki, spots off," she finally said.

And just like that, the ugly thing unwinds. So she wasn't unredeemable.

"Wait, that's the toy!" Chloe gasped, looking at Tikki in shock. "Oh my god, I had a kwami with me for hours, how didn't I realize after Pollen?!" She squawked, and now it's her time to faceplam.

"It's meant to be hard. In normal circumstances, the Miraculous makes it difficult for people to put two and two together. It's not fullproof and some people have resistance to that kind of thing so it's better to avoid pushing your luck," Tikki explained, looking between Marinette and Chloe uncertainly. Talking to her user's bully isn't something she planned on. "And of course, some things are impossible to overcome no matter how much the magic affects them."

"Like transforming in front of someone," Chloe said through her hand. "Or on TV."

"Yes," Tikki said.

"Still," Chloe said with a sigh and a shake of her head. She lowered her hand, and gestured to the tray. "Well, do you eat chocolate?"

"I prefer cookies," Tikki said. "But anything with sugar is better than most things." She then flew to the tray, picking up a chocolate to try.

"So that's why I couldn't figure it out," Chloe muttered, and looked at Marinette, who was looking decidedly a lot less hostile and a lot more uncomfortable.

"So you're really not going to tell anyone?" Marinette asked.

"Of course not. At least the public," Chloe said. "I can't be sure on our partners, it kind of depends."

"Chloe, I told you, you can't be Queen Bee-!" Marinette started to protest.

Chloe held up a hand. "I think you'll change your tune by the end of tonight."

"Why's that?" Marinette asked and there was that suspicious look again.

"I told you, I wasn't seeking out Mayura," she said. "I never told you everything that happened with Miraculer." She was staring at her teacup now. This was going to be hard. She didn't want to talk about this, she didn't.

Marinette sensed the change in the air, straightening up in her seat. She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward a bit. "Chloe?"

"I was mad," she said. She just had to get it out. The sooner it was out, the sooner she was done. "No. Frustrated. That's the better word. I was trying, attack after attack. I would wait on the roof, try to be there and ready for you, make it easy for you to find me. I kept wanting to believe everytime that I just wasn't the right one for what you needed." Her grip tightened on the teacup. "And over and over, you'd recruit Rena or Carapace or them both and I started thinking....is it really easier to find the two of them than it is me. Is it really easier to recruit two then just me?"

She glances up, and sees the guilty look on Marinette's face.

"You had decided not to recruit me for a long time, didn't you?" She asked. With no accusation in her voice because she already knew the answer. There was no point in doing so, and she took a big gulp of tea when Marinette nodded. Let the burn help center her from the ugly feelings in her chest. She had to keep talking, she had to get out the words.

"Sabrina wasn't his target. Hawk Moth was waiting for the chance to Akumatize me. When I was finally at my limit, I....I lashed out at Sabrina because I didn't understand. I was doing well, I did what you asked, and I couldn't accept that the one time I tried hard at something, I was denied the chance to continue," she said. "I told him no because superheroine's don't do that, which feels like a heart attack by the way, but since I...hurt Sabrina, he went after her because it was still good for his plan," she continued, staring intently at her cup.

She doesn't see the look of shock on Tikki's face. Or the glances exchanged between Marinette and Tikki at the admission she told him no. Instead she kept talking because she hated this. She hated it. "So Sabrina became Miraculer and it became this whole thing. I don't know if Sabrina was acting on her own, but I wouldn't be surprised if Hawk Moth told her to recruit me. Because when Chat showed up, Mayura did too and she _definitely_ had orders to recruit me. Told me if I joined him, I could have my Miraculous and she kept trying to play mind games the whole time. So no, I didn't stalk the bird. The bird was stalking me."

There was a long silence, Chloe still looking down because she hated this. She hated having to admit the supervillain genuinely tried to recruit her. Multiple times. That he thought she would honestly agree after everything. That despite her time as a superhero, something about her screamed so bad that two supervillains thought it'd work. That the evidence was right there, in the form of her friend that she had hurt in her anger and maybe...maybe that was a problem.

"It's less than a hundred," the soft, high pitched voice said.

"What?" Chloe looked up in confusion. "A hundred what?"

"People who said no to the butterfly," Tikki said. "For good or ill, the butterfly tunes to the strongest emotion a person is feeling in the moment. Butterflies will avoid possessing someone if the emotion they were looking for vanishes, but at the moment of connection, the butterfly keys into the deepest current desire of a person. How did you say no? Everyone knows you want to be Queen Bee."

Chloe looked between the tiny god and Marinette. Marinette was looking almost as shocked as she felt, and Tikki was staring at her with such intensity that Chloe felt oddly naked. Like the little red bug could see into her very soul. She opened and closed her mouth a few times. "Because....I want to be Queen Bee," she said. "And Queen Bee is a superheroine. And a superheroine doesn't join supervillains."

The silence filled the room, so quiet that they could hear the faint hum of the TV, still paused on Ladybug catching an Akuma.

"Chloe," Marinette said. "Why do you want to be a superhero?" She asked.

Chloe scoffed. "Who wouldn't be? They're amazing, they're powerful, the coolest thing around, it's just obvious," she said like it was dumb Marinette asked.

"Chloe, please," Marinette said, looking at her seriously, but with a gentleness that Chloe doesn't think she's ever really seen on Marinette's face. Sometimes close, but that was a look she'd only seen on Ladybug.

And she hates how even on Marinette's face, it makes her heart race. It makes her want to trust and believe. Because that look always came with something. A gentle apology, a kind reassurance, trust, so much trust that she frankly hadn't earned. All she had to do was be willing to open up in turn. Chloe looks between Marinette and the lamp in the corner, just needing to focus on something else.

"Because....because being mean isn't exceptional. Being mean is what exceptional people can be because no one will tell them no. When you're exceptional, you're above needing to make nice or polite or any of it. Being mean is the easy part, to make up for the effort of being exceptional," she said, bitterness in her voice. "My mother isn't exceptional because she's mean, she's exceptional so she can be mean, and I'm useless so the only thing I could do was....was pretend."

Fake it until she made it. Pretend that maybe some of the power she used from her parents was her own. That she had some worth.

"But it doesn't matter with a superhero. Who your family is, your social status, how pretty you are, none of it matters. Because a superhero has to save everyone. If they're incompetent, no one is going to support them or trust them. And if they're good, then they're praised and adored. They're useful, exceptional, and what the people say they think is going to be what they think," she said, her voice tight, her eyes shut, fighting back the tears. She wasn't useless, not as Queen Bee. She wasn't useless. "There's no question if you're worth something if you're a trusted superhero."

She's startled out of her thoughts as she feels arms wrapped around her. Her eyes open, staring into a familiar dark jacket and dark blue hair.

"Queen Bee is a good hero," Marinette said. "You were certainly far more graceful and aware of your powers than Chat and I were when we started. We ended up hanging upside, tied together as our first hello," she said with a small laugh in her voice.

This wasn't fair, Chloe thought. Marinette shouldn't be this sweet and nice to her when she's trying to get over her feelings. Despite that, Chloe lets herself lean into the hug. Just for a few moments. She takes a deep breath, and reaches up to gently push her away. "I talked to Pollen for a while," she said. "I wanted to make sure I did it right. I was going to make this whole grand entrance to help with an Akuma and everything."

"So why did you do it on TV?" Marinette asked, having pulled away and picking up her drink finally.

"It was an impulse decision," Chloe said.

"Why?" Chloe gave her a flat look. It took a moment. "Oh. No, I get it."

Chloe rolled her eyes and picked up a chocolate to eat, briefly rubbing at her eyes.

"...it's still too dangerous, Chloe," Marinette said. "He still knows."

"I know and that's what I mean," she said. "He knows who I am."

Marinette frowned. "And that's....the problem?"

Chloe gave a long suffering sigh. "Dupain-Cheng, the bird was watching me. She was waiting for an opportunity to steal the Miraculous. Because she knew I was the wielder."

It takes a moment, Marinette looking confused, before it finally dawns on her. "You want to bait her out."

"Exactly," Chloe said.

"But she'll be prepared for us to come here."

"Well, it's very good you can just call isn't it?"

Marinette opened her mouth. Then closed it again.

"You're right, it's a bad idea just to do my light thing, because Mayura will always be prepared. She'll have a good place to watch, and see who she's dealing with, and get the jump on them. Especially if there's an Akuma or a Sentimonster or both involved. But now, I don't need to bring you to me. You just have to call me. I can go where you need me to, and I assure you, Adrien and I have done enough paparazzi dodging growing up it's not that hard for me to lose a bird. Or at the very least, make it really hard for her to get an advantageous position. You call and I can go meet you or any of the other three in pretty much any location. I can get anywhere, and you guys can, and the more you use me, the more they'll think they can use it. We bait them long enough and I'll bet they'll get desperate," Chloe said.

"We can't be sure they'll get desperate-" Marinette started.

"Twenty-five times and the baby."

Marinette closed her mouth.

"Hawk Moth isn't an idiot, sure, but he's impatient. He's taken over Chat how many times? Even if Chat is a good tool against you, he could just cut his losses and take having one. Princess Fragrance had the cat for a long time with you nowhere in sight. He could have just had her take the ring and hand it off. At the very least know his identity. But he wants to end it all in one fell swoop. He repeats quick and easy things to do, but not the stuff that takes effort. He had Kim for Heroes Day. He should have had Kim shooting as many people as possible instead of just the Akuma's he knew," she said with a shrug. "We can work them up. We can get the bird. And even if we just get her Miraculous, that still means we've got a win and a lead."

Marinette chewed her lip at that, tapping the arm rest of her chair. 

"We can be proactive. You and Chat....you guys are just reactive. You wait for him to act. What if he never comes out again? At least this way we have a direction," Chloe said, leaning forward. "We can work on actually ending this."

It wasn't often Marinette had to admit Chloe had a point. She's been good at stopping the Akuma's, sure, but when it came to finding Hawk Moth? The closest thing had been the book, but that had been a dead end. And she can hardly go to Tibet to find out more. The actual Hawk Moth would be protective of anything that would connect him to the Miraculous, when else would they really get a chance?

"And you would be Queen Bee again," Marinette said.

"Yes. And yes, I'm definitely looking forward to that, but you know I'm right," Chloe said.

"But you'd be in danger," Marinette said.

"I'm already in danger!" Chloe said, throwing up her hands. "I was the Akuma queen. Ninety percent of literally everyone in my life has been Akumatized if not more, many of them more than once not counting Heroes Day. He stalked me for months because I don't care how mean I am, I was not the only one causing bad days in Paris that whole time," she said, making an X with her arms. "I'm pretty sure he has a grudge against my family. As long as I don't carry the Miraculous as a civilian, the amount of danger I'm in is not that much more than normal. It's not like he's gonna kidnap me, I'm an easy opportunity for a Miraculous."

Marinette still looked uncertain. Opening her mouth and closing it again, trying to find an argument and Chloe....Chloe sees it. She had suspected now, little things, building up more and more and confirmed when she had talked to Adrien.

"You need to learn to trust your team," she said.

"Wha-of course I trust my team!" Marinette protested.

"Then why doesn't Chat know who the fox and turtle are?" Chloe demanded.

"Who told you that?" Marinette said.

"Because if he KNEW who they were, it would be even dumber for you to send him to give me the Bee when chances were high Sabrina was going to come to me as Miraculer and he had been grievously injured. The only way that's even a slightly understandable idea was if he had no idea who the other two were, so he couldn't," Chloe said and this time there was definitely accusation in her voice.

Marinette grimaced at that, looking away. Guilty. Chloe was vindicated to see that because she should feel guilty. Adrien almost died.

"It's stupid," Chloe said.

"It's to keep them safe! The less we know each other, the less likely it'll come out!" Marinette protested.

"And if you get taken out, Chat isn't gonna have any experienced back up except me!" Chloe said, pointing an accusing finger at her. "If Chat goes dark side, you have it easy because you can fix everything afterwards. If you go, then Chat has to break the Akumatized object and it'll probably be dodgy enough for you to catch the Akuma! He's a destructo cat, his options are limited for capture. The best chance he has to minimize damage is to have back up that could take on whatever you might end up being. That means experience. And of course that's assuming he can get wherever the Miraculous are."

Marinette looked away at that last part. 

"He doesn't even know where they are?!" Chloe shrieked.

"That's not my place to decide!" Marinette protested.

"Marinette!" Tikki said in warning.

Marinette put her hands over her mouth, looking a little panicked in the face of an angry Chloe and almost saying too much.

Chloe wanted to demand more. What did she mean she couldn't decide? But...

She sighed and sat back. She picked up another chocolate, eating it to give herself a moment to cool down. "You have control issues," Chloe said. 

"I do not!" Marinette protested.

"You do," Chloe said. "You don't....trust your team. Not really. I mean, I get it. You make the plans, you're the smart one, the leader, but we....we have our skills too. Chat might be goofball, but he also has a gentle heart that never forgets how people are feeling. Something you've done," she said with a pointed look. "The fox is quick on her feet, and the turtle seems to have pretty good situational awareness to watch your backs."

"...and you?" Marinette asked.

"....I don't let things stand in my way," Chloe said. "And while it may not be the most becoming of things, for a superheroine to be particularly scheming....maybe that's why you guys need that."

And maybe, Marinette thought...

Maybe she had a point.

"I need to think about it," Marinette finally said.

"Try talking it over with the cat. You guys ARE partners, right?" Chloe asked. And then she could possibly find out if she did instead of just keeping it to herself. She always tried to do too much on her own.

She hesitated and nodded. "Yeah. Of course. And I'll tell Alya not to post about Mayura. You're right. It's better she doesn't know we're onto her, either way," she said.

"Girl gets too obsessed with the wrong kind of truth," Chloe said with a nod. Which gets another look from Marinette, but she doesn't pursue the subject.

"So you really won't tell?" She asked, one final time.

"For all you might think I hate you enough to do that...let's be fair, I'd hate you enough to not want to make you super popular too. If it helps," Chloe said.

Marinette paused and laughed. "You know, weirdly enough, it kind of does. Tikki, spots on," she said, transforming again. "Good night, Chloe."

"...yeah, good night, or whatever," Chloe said, picking up her phone with a huff.

Ladybug smiled in bemusement and rolled her eyes before swinging away into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll never give up Adrien-with-cat tendencies. Too bad he has a while before Ladybug will pet him.


	7. Intermission

"You know, I'm starting to wonder if we need to start having a power point on the do's and don't's of supreheroing when we recruit someone new," Chat said, walking along the rooftop of Notre Dame to where Ladybug was watching the city.

"I didn't realize she was so impulsive. I thought she'd have listened to Longg, at least get him to cut to the chase," Ladybug said, a touch sheepish. "She was still the best for the job."

"Of course." Chat chuckled. "You don't know many kids with controlling parents, do you?"

Ladybug raised an eyebrow. "And you do?"

Chat shrugged, sitting down on the ledge beside her. "One or two. From my experience, you give someone like that a chance to do whatever they want, they're going to use that chance for all it's worth."

"Like show up your mother?" 

"Eh, if the situation allows it. Usually the chance of freedom means what parents don't know won't hurt them."

"Are you enabling your friends to be wild childs, Chatton?"

Chat just grinned a little wilder. "Maybe."

Ladybug hummed, studying Chat. She knew Chat, he didn't want to hide things of himself. If she asked, he would answer, even if he wouldn't make things blatantly obvious. But maybe she would know anyway, by chance or luck, so she doesn't ask.

There was a few minutes of them just enjoying the views of the night sky, the peace of Paris. These times, they could talk for hours, mostly about history or current media, things that wouldn't give them away, but other times they just sit in silence, enjoying each others company.

"I know you said we need to talk business, but there is also something....personal. I'd like to talk about. Not about our personal lives, just...something that might be awkward?" Chat said. "I don't know what you have in mind, so I guess what do you want to talk about?"

It was a hard question. She struggled more when it came to the more emotional things with this job. She knew that, Tikki often reminded her to watch it. She could offer kind and encouraging words, but that was usually when she already had an idea. Chat, on the other hand, could react more emotionally and this was a hard situation. On the other hand, he's never seemed to have a problem with Chloe being Queen bee....

"Business, then personal," Ladybug said.

Chat nodded, turning on his spot to face her, crossing his legs and watching her intently. "Is this another clue about Hawk Moth?"

She shook her head. "No, not...quite. It's more of an idea," she said, fingers tapping on the edge of the ledge. She was nervous talking about this, because it was such a big risk in many ways. She could see Chat tilting his head from the corner of her eyes, looking her over. "Chat, what do you think of Chloe Bourgeois?"

"Chloe?" Chat asked. "Well....I guess that depends on what context?"

"Any context. What do you think of her as a person?" Ladybug asked.

Chat frowned, crossing his arms. "I know you know her bad qualities," he said. "It's why you prefer I handle her if we need to bodyguard her, something about her more...abrasive traits get under your skin. Right, My Lady?" He asked.

Ladybug nodded. "And I know that's her being on her better behavior," she said.

Chat chuckled. "Oh? I guess she is hard to miss when she's somewhere," he said with an unsurprised tone. "...it's obvious she has a troubled childhood. It doesn't excuse her less pleasant traits, but it's also obvious she wants badly to be something better than she is. She admires you, a lot, My lady, and it's not just about being cool. She's been around a lot of famous, popular people, but the ones she shows true admiration for are the ones who are kind. Save for her mother."

It was....a surprising observation, one Ladybug has to think about. Because it was true, she's seen Chloe meet plenty people of power and fame. But other than her, the only one she's shown true fondness for had been Adrien and Prince Ali. Any other time had been to get a very specific thing like she was with Gabriel Agreste. The only celebrities whose interest she wanted to have were kind people. Or people she wanted to date.

Except, of course, her mother.

"I'm not sure why she struggles so hard to be nicer."

Because if she was mean, she could pretend she was exceptional. Ladybug knew that.

"But when she's actually depended on, and has the power to act....she does really well. She did well with Malediktator, and Miraculer. She worked well with us and Rena Rouge and Carapace for Heroes Day. She was quick to take charge with Startrain before I could change and was the last one off the train when Bakerix attacked it, so she seemed to be doing the same. And that's just when I directly interacted with her, I think she's been doing it other times too," Chat said. 

It was true. Whether Chloe was effective on the Startrain was questionable, but she had gotten the train car cleared before an Akuma could grab anyone after they realized what happened, and Chloe found her out by trying to help her. Chloe was a little too eager at Malediktator at first, she adjusted quickly, and since then, she picked up the slack well. She had wondered if the Bee Miraculous would make Chloe a better person. She wondered if maybe that was the right idea.

But this was also why she asked Chat. Chat was always calmer when it came to Chloe.

"Why? I thought it was too dangerous to give her the Bee," Chat said.

Ladybug took a deep breath and let it out. "How quickly did Mayura show up? With Miraculer?"

Chat grimaced, ears folding. "....I think she was following me. She was on me as soon as I had stopped."

Ladybug looked over and reached over, scratching under his chin. "Don't look like that, Chatton," she said gently, letting him lean into the affection before lowering her hand. "I don't think Mayura was following you."

Chat perked up at that. "What?"

"I spoke to Chloe recently. She had evidence that Mayura was following her for the worst Akuma we've been fighting since then," she said.

"What?!" Chat yelped, eye widening. "Why is Mayura following Chloe?"

"Miraculer wasn't an opportunity for recruitment. It was a planned attempt. Hawk Moth had tried to akumatize Chloe and when that didn't work, he went for Sabrina. Start to finish, it was all about trying to get a Miraculous user on his side," Ladybug said. "Chloe thinks he hasn't gotten the message of her rejection and might still be hopeful in recruiting her. Or at least getting the Bee Miraculous." 

Chat was silent for a few moments. His tail flicking back and forth behind him, not the usual lazy wag, but something more agitated. "And she had proof?" He asked.

"Pictures. Taken with her cell phone," she said.

"And she told you because she's scared....?" Chat asked, his voice oddly subdued. She wasn't sure why. The tail she assumed was from worry, but not quite why he was withdrawing.

"No. She told me because she wanted to help," Ladybug said, Chat making a confused noise. "She thinks, with the right communication set up, we could use it to turn it around. If we show we're willing to recruit her again, then Mayura may get more aggressive in her stalking and we might be able to lure her into a trap. As long as we can change where we're meeting her, then the Miraculous won't be in danger, until we're ready to spring the trap."

"And what about her? And her loved ones being in danger?" Chat asked.

Ladybug was silent for several moments. "She knows very few people who haven't been Akumatized. A lot of them twice. She argues that whatever difference there would be, wouldn't be that much," she said. "And she wouldn't be attacked because she would be an easy Miraculous opportunity. With that in consideration, the biggest risk for Chloe specifically was Hawk Moth taking someone hostage to make friction between us and her and to make her a potentially powerful Akuma focused solely on us, but...."

"But he could do that now and it's more likely to succeed if we freeze her out completely," Chat finished.

Ladybug nodded. "This way, she knows its a possibility and its less likely to get to her. If anything, it proves her idea is working and make her feel vindicated," she said. 

"True. I'm pretty sure pettiness is stronger than any temper," Chat said. 

Ladybug nodded, then hesitating a long moment. "But it means putting her right in the sights of a supervillain for sure."

"It does," Chat said slowly. "....how would we justify recruiting her more?"

"Well, she's not wrong. People close to her get Akumatized all the time. And the Bee is a good power. I've been hesitant to give someone else the Bee because it might upset her, and nothing has really needed it, but it'd be nice to use again," Ladybug said, hands fidgeting in her lap. "We just need to wait until she's already involved with an Akuma attack and we could justify it. After that, she says it might be useful to have her be a way to give direct information to us about things people may have noticed that could help in finding Hawk Moth."

"Doesn't the Ladyblog do that?" Chat asked.

"Yes, but she says a known superheroine might make people more inclined to come forward over a blog, even if Alya is good at her job," Ladybug said.

Chat tilted his head. "She's not wrong. You can't always trust the internet, after all," he said.

"Yeah." As much as Ladybug loved and trusted Alya, she knew even being a fairly trusted blog didn't mean she got everything. Especially when sometimes she would post things that aren't real. Like Lila being a friend of Ladybug. And with the history posts, someone could think she was just being a conspiracy nut. There was enough room to doubt her, while Chloe being a known associate would get her some legitimacy. It could even allow them to organize official statements in a timely manner.

But still.

"It would mean putting a lot of trust in Chloe," she said.

Chat was silent for several long moments. "I think we could," he said. "Trust her."

"Why?" Ladybug asked, looking Chat with a doubtful look. Was this him being optimistic again?

"Because Chloe won't deliberately betray someone who matters to her," Chat said. "She might disappoint those people because she doesn't think something through, but in this case, if she knows the risks, knows what might happen, knows what she needs to do, she will do everything she can."

"How can you be so sure?" Ladybug asked, surprised.

Chat shrugged. "I know people like her. She has a hard time offering her heart to people, but once she does, she does anything she can so they'll return the favor. Even when it hurts."

Chloe who was nice when Adrien finally put his foot down, who has saved her from Akumatized and even potentially dying once, who regretted hurting her father and Bustier, who did anything she could to get her mother to look her way. Sabrina may be the only exception, then again, whatever was going on with Sabrina was a weird thing. Marinette's seen that up close, and lately, Sabrina is the first she protects.

"So you think her plan has merit?" Ladybug asked.

".....I do. It's terrifying, and we need to be very careful to make sure she's safe, but....but we've been doing this a long time now and the number of times we've seen Mayura and Hawk Moth we can count on one hand. If we could get Mayura, at least the Sentimonsters are taken care of, and there's a good chance she knows Hawk Moth personally. Knowing her might lead to him and stopping all this," Chat said, gesturing out to Paris. 

Ladybug breathed in deep. Then let it out slowly. 

"....but...." Chat started.

Ladybug looked up.

"If we're doing this....we may need more help," he said. "I know the Guardian doesn't want to risk losing more Miraculous, but even if we're keeping an eye on Chloe, if there's an Akuma and a Sentimonster, and she's being targeted, we might be stretched too thin. I know we're recruited her classmates. Multimouse, Pegasus, and I think Kagami goes to that school? And....actually, who was Viperion? Adrien said you chose someone else before I came up. Can we use him?"

"He knows that class," Ladybug said, biting back the panic at hearing her name from Chat. "But he wouldn't be in a good place to watch. Kagami might be watched now. I almost want to ask her to do all this, but it'd be putting her people in danger. As far as I know, only her mother and herself has been Akumatized for people connected to her."

"Kagami would be a lot more reassuring, but you're right. Chloe is more prepared for this," Chat said.

Ladybug sighed, rubbing at her face. Thinking about what Chloe said. If she was ever taken, what WOULD Chat do? Obviously Chloe couldn't have the Bee, that was dangerous. And Kagami couldn't have hers. She wasn't sure if Max was seen through the train camera, and Marinette was out of the question, of course. She was already there. For those Chat didn't know, Alix's Miraculous was still the broken future one, and Kim was, well, not exactly the most attentive person. For people she would trust longterm, the list is short...

But. Again, what WOULD Chat do if she was taken? She could do her best to not be taken, but what if she is? She had to use a Lucky Charm to even find Master Fu these days, Chat would have no means to find him.

And what if it took too long to find him? She's been lucky so far, but one of these days, she might be too far.

"Rena Rouge would be a good candidate to watch Chloe," Ladybug said. "As would Carapace, but the Guardian also uses the turtle. And I trust them the most. Viperion....he's not in a good place to watch Chloe, but with his ability, it could still work in a bad situation. Out of everyone, I trust them the most and their identities aren't compromised at all."

"So...we're going a permanent recruitment?" Chat asked, looking surprised. "I thought you'd say no."

Ladybug looked up, seeing the wide eyes, the near gobsmacked look on his face and...

And has she really made Chat think she wouldn't listen? Had Chloe actually been right about her?

That was a terrible thought.

"It's a fair point, chatton. We're doing something risky and we need to be ready. If there's five of us, that's plenty of people to make sure she's safe and to take on Mayura. We can train them too. Though Viperion may be more in the wings. The more of a surprise he is, the better our odds," Ladybug said. "It was one thing to ask for help sometimes when it was just Hawk Moth, but we're asking for it more and more. It's more likely that I'll be followed to the Guardian then for someone with a Miraculous to lose it at this rate. We may need to be switching off the Bee between us since we all know Chloe. I'll need to talk to the Guardian, but we can't be reactive forever."

Chat nodded. "I agree. The sooner we stop him, the better," he said.

The air was heavy, thoughts heavy on their mind. There was often a feeling in times like these, like they were about to fall off the edge from somewhere high and not be certain they'd catch themselves. It was a feeling they knew well.

But they weren't falling, not yet.

"I need to speak to the Guardian first though," she said. "I'll tell you as soon as I know something. You had something?" She asked.

Chat jerked at the sudden change. "Oh. Um." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. He breathed deep. Let it out. "I've been....thinking of something. Since we dealt with Nice Guy," he said.

"Nice Guy?" Ladybug said, surprised.

"Yeah. Just...I've been thinking....is...is what I'm doing okay, or am I like him, am I acting too entitled, am I being a creep and making you uncomfortable, and I know I've been sulky sometimes, and I'm thinking maybe that's not okay, and I don't-I'm not-" Chat's mouth snapped shut, ears drooping. He looked at her, looked away, and focused on her again. "I....I wanted to apologize. If I ever made you uncomfortable with my flirting. Or acted entitled to your feelings. I know I'm not, and it's wrong for me to act like it."

Ladybug hadn't expected this. At all. She knew he apologized after Nice Guy, but she didn't expect him to still be thinking of it. 

"And I....I can't promise I'll always catch myself, you know sometimes I act without thinking, but if it's making you uncomfortable, I'll do my best to stop flirting," he said, looking down, the picture of a kicked kitten. "Your comfort is more important than my wooing attempts."

Ladybug doesn't answer, not right away, thinking it over. Thinking of Chat not flirting is...weird. She's so used to it. She can't say she hasn't enjoyed it at times, it's nice to be wanted, but there were other times where it was annoying and when he sulked had been bad. He can't act like the way he did with Frozer. She should say he should stop, that she loved someone else.

Because she did.

Even if...even if he was in love with someone else.

Who she still wanted to look her way. Wasn't that a little hypocritical to say Chat had no chance? Because it's not like he didn't, just...they were superheroes and there was Adrien. But someday, they could tell each other who they are, when Hawk Moth was defeated and they secured the Butterfly. And she would miss him being able to say what he thought and-

"The way you acted with Frozer was unacceptable," Ladybug said slowly. "And Oblivio was bad too, but..."

Chat looked up, confused. "But...?"

"I'm in love with someone else, it's true, but your honesty is part of what I like about you, Chat Noir. I don't want you to hold back saying something else if you don't have to, so maybe..." She paused, tapping her chin. "Maybe what we need is a way for you to know it's time to focus on work and not flirting?" She asked.

Chat still looked confused, but hopeful. "So when it's becoming bothersome or uncomfortable, a way to tell me to cut it out?" he asked.

Ladybug nodded. "Like...if I say Marigold, no more flirting, no questions or argument," she said. "It's getting in the way or I'm getting uncomfortable. If we need to talk about it, we can talk about it later, but you just cut it out and focus on the job."

"So I'll still have a chance to woo you?" He asked.

"If you want to look at it that way," Ladybug said with an amused smile.

"I'll take it!" Chat said eagerly. Then held up a hand and the other over his heart. "And I promise if I hear Marigold, I'll cut it all out." He looked so earnest as he said it. "And I won't act like I did with Frozer. I was being too sulky, I know, I risked us losing because I was hurt and....and you don't owe me affection, I shouldn't have acted like it."

Ladybug smiled gently, reaching up to lightly tousle his hair, letting his lean into her touch again. "I forgive you, Chatton. I know you didn't mean anything bad by it. I trust you to keep your promise."

Chat hummed, smiling, but also looking relieved. "I will. It's more important you're my friend than my being able to flirt, but I am happy I can still try to charm you, Bugaboo," he said.

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "We'll always be friends, Chat," she said and moves to her feet. "Come on, let's go on patrol," she said.

"After you, My Lady," Chat said as they ran off into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waiting until Felix and Chat Blanc in case it will make the trashfire that apparently happened in the finale make sense 'cause I know it did my girl Chloe dirty.


	8. Secret of friendship

"We need to talk," Chloe said, standing by Kagami at lunch. Adrien was at a photo shoot that day and Marinette was trying to get homework done in the library. It was the perfect time to talk to the Ice Queen.

"Does this concern Adrien?" Kagami asked.

"No, it's abou-" Chloe started.

"Then we have nothing to discuss," Kagami said, looking back to her food.

"We have plenty to discuss! It just has to be private," Chloe said, leaning over Kagami, hand braced on the table by her lunch.

Kagami glared back up at her. "I have no desire to be anywhere private with you."

"Too bad," Chloe said, grabbing Kagami's arm. "We're going to ta-aaaah!" Chloe bit back the louder yelp of pain as Kagami grabbed and twisted her wrist until she let go of her arm.

"Do not misunderstand my toleration of you around Adrien. I do that solely because he deems you a friend, and it would hurt him to not do so," Kagami said, standing up. "If he is not present, and we are not at a function that requires maintaining proper etiquette, I want nothing to do with you."

Chloe rubbed her wrist. "What is your _problem_ with me?" She demanded. "We've barely talked!"

Kagami picked up her tray of food. "We do not need to talk. Your attitude when we meet is entitled and rude. Outside of Adrien, you treat everyone with condescension and derision. Even your supposed best friend, you treat like a servant, despite the fact you were allowed to make friends since you were young. Frankly, the fact both Adrien and I understand friendship better than you says a great deal about your character," she said. "Do not speak to me again."

And with that, she turned and walked away.

~~~

"Play it again, almost got the look right," Chloe said.

"Still not sure how I feel about making your maids do this, dude," Nino said.

"Oh shush. Daddy is paying you extra to just sit still, are you complaining?" Chloe asked the maid who shrugged her shoulders. "See, she doesn't care. Easier than cleaning."

"You could have just done yourself," Nino pointed out.

"I'm not letting you see me in some half made up face to take a picture to humiliate me with," Chloe shot back.

Nino rolled his eyes. "Like I would," he said, playing the music over again.

It hadn't been the easiest partnership, this one for an art project. Chloe had asked to switch partners, work with someone more likely to go along with her vision, but no. No switching allowed, she was stuck with Nino, and Alya got Adrien, and Ivan had Sabrina. It was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous! Its not like she and Nino had any artistic talents in common and he wouldn't just do it himself, so they had to find something.

This was it. He would make short music tracks and she designed a make up and hair style to go with it. A bit more thematic then she usually goes for, but it works, and it was artistic. Then they were going to put it together as a slide show.

Nino had insisted he be present for the make up, unfortunately. To make sure it was Chloe doing the work. It was completely rude. And inconvenient.

But finally, she was finishing up the make up for the last maid and after a half hour of getting plenty of pictures to work with, they were done with everything, but the assembly.

On one hand, she could just get Nino out of her room and work on it more another day, but frankly the less time she had to have him there, the better. And less likely to have a superhero with bad timing.

They worked on her computer, playing the video on the screen, just talking about angles and what made the pictures look interesting instead of just scrolling by with music. With a lot of complaining from Chloe and needling from Nino, but they were making progress.

But eventually...

"Ugh! No! If I have to listen to that track again without a break, I'll have to break something!" Chloe groaned, throwing up her hands, standing up. She picked up the remote and changed the channel. "Marvel movie, now."

"Guardians of the Galaxy," Nino said.

"Should have known. At least Gamora is amazing," Chloe said, flicking through the screens to the movie, letting it start playing before moving to pick up the room phone. "Are you allergic to shellfish?"

"No," Nino said, sighing because really, there's no point arguing with Chloe like this, not for this.

Chloe ordered sushi and despite himself, Nino found himself eating sushi while watching a superhero movie with Chloe Bourgeois rather peacefully. Maybe she really was becoming a better person?

Chloe, on the other hand, was getting lost in her thoughts without the homework and not even Gamora could pull her from the thoughts that have been plaguing her. Kagami had said she treated Sabrina like a servant. Sure, she did a lot for her, but that's what friends did, right? But apparently it was bad enough to be a major contributing factor that the girl wouldn't talk to her. And if she wouldn't talk to her, then she couldn't use the fact they're both known to show that Hawk Moth not to mess with her.

She could only stand to change her personality so much. She was being nicer since Adrien's ultimatum, but that was hard enough most days. There was only so much to do on that front. But maybe she could do better with Sabrina. It was just figuring out how. Sabrina wouldn't tell her anything. Adrien would be too kind and understanding about it. No way is she talking to Marinette about it. Jean Pascal would likely be too kind or babying about it. She needed someone who'd be honest and knew how friendship worked.

And unfortunately, someone who fit the bill whose advice she wouldn't hate having to follow was in her room.

And watching a budding friendship turned found family film, U G H.

"So. Hypothetically speaking," Chloe said. "How do you handle a friend who totally loves doing stuff for their friends, and freaks out if their friends stop asking."

At first Chloe thought about treating Sabrina more like Adrien, but she doesn't ask a lot of Adrien. Considering how often Sabrina freaks out if Chloe changes her behavior a little bit, she's pretty sure wholesale would give her a heart attack.

Nino looked at Chloe, looking confused. "What?"

"Someone really likes helping their friend, and would freak out if said friend stopped asking for help, but maybe that's bad?" Chloe said, grabbing another piece of sushi and eating it as Nino stared at her. Stared at her Like That. Again. "Will you stop doing that?!"

"Doing what?" Nino asked.

"Like....I dunno. You just give me that look a lot lately. After we made the Adrien deal," Chloe said, waving a hand at him.

"Oh. That look. Yeah, you just....surprise me, I guess?" Nino said.

"Surprise?" Chloe said, looking confused.

Nino shrugged. "Well, yeah? I mean, we've known each other years and you've always been, uh...." He trailed off at the glare she shot his way. "You? But now you're....changing."

"Yeah, well. Get magical powers and actually _remember_ it is pretty dramatic," Chloe said, crossing her arms and looking away.

Nino paused. "Yeah, I guess so," he said softly. "You know, you could just stop bossing Sabrina around."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Sabrina likes things being familiar. I stop and she'll think I'm abandoning her. And she LIKES doing things for me," she said.

Nino raised his hands and rolled his eyes. He almost wanted to just let this go, but...it was Chloe Bourgeois. Asking for advice. On being a better person. He had nothing to lose and possibly make her less of a brat. So he thought about it a bit longer. "When it comes to your buds, you shouldn't tell them to do things for you. Like, when I tell Adrien to ask his dad stuff, it's because I know he wants to do something, but he needs a push to do what he needs to, to get it. Telling is about letting him do things he want, or for his own good. Stuff like that," he said. "But if you want a friend to do something for you, you should _ask_ them to do it. Not order. Let them decide if they want to."

"Sabrina always wants to, what's the difference?" Chloe asked, frowning deeply.

"It's like....respect, dudette. You give her room to say no, to think about what she wants. It's a good first step if you want to be a better friend for her," Nino said with a shrug. "And maybe instead of having her do so much stuff for you, you like....do things together?"

"Together?" 

"Yeah. Like homework. We don't get along, but we got a pretty good project, I think. You're wicked good at that make up stuff, and no one else's project is gonna be like ours," Nino said.

Chloe's head snapped towards him in surprise. Was that an actual compliment? "Well...style is important," Chloe muttered.

"You might get more unique stuff actually doing some of the work yourself instead of putting it all on her is all," Nino said.

"....I suppose I could think about it," Chloe muttered. "Now be quiet. I like the whistle scene."

And Nino let's it go. He wasn't going to get invested unless Chloe was really going to try to be better for more than Adrien. That would be something to wait and see.

~~~

Marinette needed to catch up on homework, heading to the out of the way corner where Chloe and Sabrina usually worked. Between superhero duties, promises to friends and family, and talking to Fu about their frankly crazy idea, she hasn't had near enough time for homework.

As she turns the corner, she sees Sabrina in distress and Chloe annoyed.

"Did I do something wrong? Did I not copy everything down and give you a B? I thought I had it right!" Sabrina said, looking on the edge of tears.

"Sabrina, calm down before the librarian kicks us out!" Chloe hissed. "You didn't do anything. I just....I don't want you to do my homework anymore."

"Did you find someone else? Are you....replacing me?" Sabrina asked, looking fearful.

Chloe groaned, facepalming. "No! I'm not replacing you. It's just....look. I don't want you doing it, but I need help. So help me-" She paused. "Could you help me figure out how to do the math homework?" She asked, looking almost pained to do so.

But in hearing the request of her aid, Sabrina perked up. Looking confused, but eager. "Yes! Of course, Chloe!" She said, pulling out their books and homework.

Marinette stared in confusion before slowly approaching. She doesn't greet Chloe, she never does. She worked quietly and Chloe didn't chase her off. That was before she knew about Ladybug and it was the same after. For sake of appearances. She set down her books and Chloe glanced her way before focusing on the book. Marinette decided to focus on her homework and get through it, all the while Chloe and Sabrina whispered quietly together.

It was obvious Chloe was still getting fed a lot of the information and not doing near as much work as she should.

But she was doing a lot more than she would before and Marinette's fears about this plan are eased, if only just a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's be fair, Sabrina is her own brand of messed up and fixing that relationship really needs to take some baby steps before anything major.
> 
> There will also be more Kagami because she is a delightful awkward girl just doing her best, but she'd have none of Chloe's nonsense.


	9. Secret of the night

It was one in the morning when Chloe's phone rang. She grabbed her phone, ready to chew out Sabrina when she sees the call is coming from an unknown number. Then a text. 'Balcony.'

She looks up and sees Chat Noir waving through the window to the balcony. Wearing an awkward, sheepish smile. It's almost so disarmingly awkward and him that she thinks this is him looking for a bit of relaxing hang out time. Like when he'd sneak out of his house as a kid to visit her.

Except it's one in the morning on a school night.

Chloe gets out of bed and unlocks the door, because at least then an Akuma has to break her window instead of just walking in. She gestured for him to come in as she moved to the bathroom, freshening up because she imagines this won't be a short visit. She even puts extra moisturizer under her eyes, to hopefully counter the eye bags she's likely to have. She didn't know why Adrien was here. The Akuma was just someone who just got fired from their job, nothing too hard to beat and not emotionally harrowing. So why was Adrien here?

She was out a few minutes later, still running a brush through her hair, and sees Adrien is already laying on the end of her bed, in his pajamas, and Plagg looking around. Chloe rolled her eyes and picked up her remote, pressing a button to reveal a hidden safe. An airtight one. "Your cheese is here, you little monster," she said, inputting the code for him and opening it.

"You know, you've really grown on me, girly. Like mold on cheese," Plagg said as he floated over to her.

"Eugh," Chloe said, giving him a disgusted look. She glanced at Adrien and looked at Plagg, raising an eyebrow.

"Nightmare," he said and shrugged. "Won't say what."

Chloe hummed and left Plagg to his cheese and moved over to the bed. Adrien had stolen her Ladybug pillow and was hugging it close. Chloe climbed up next to him, helping him shift his head to her lap, already running her fingers through his hair. "Romantic bad dream?"

Adrien shook his head. Paused. "I mean. It's not unrelated completely?" he said.

"Really? I thought you just avoided talking about romance with the cheese monster because he doesn't get it?" Chloe said, frowning in confusion. "If it's not romance, what is it?"

Adrien looked away and there was.

That look.

It was a look that sent dread through Chloe, because she's seen it before. She's seen it a lot. Anytime Auntie Emilie had seemed to get sick, Adrien would get it. And when she vanished, it was even worse, deeper. Weighing more on him.

This looked even deeper than that.

"Adrien? What happened?" Chloe asked softly.

"....Ladybug chose me once, for a Miraculous," Adrien said.

"She...what, you mean she chose Adrien?" Chloe asked. 

Adrien nodded. 

And....okay, frankly, she's surprised Marinette hasn't tried to choose Adrien a million times by now. She put the boy on a pedestal if she thought he was as intimidating as she acted. And Adrien was a lot of good things in a hero, kind and thoughtful and skilled. It's why him being Chat Noir wasn't a surprise. Maybe Marinette was just too scared to ask him, that seemed like her.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"I accepted."

"But...you're Chat Noir?"

"And he should stay Chat Noir!" Plagg called from the safe.

Adrien grimaced and Chloe got it. Ah, the cheese monster hadn't approved, and Adrien wouldn't want to bring it up. Of course.

"I trust My Lady's judgement. If she said she needed Adrien with the Snake Miraculous, then it seemed like I should do it," he said, and that distant look came back again.

"Wasn't there a Snake guy dealing with Party Crasher though? People were freaking out about so many heroes being there," Chloe said.

"Yeah. Yeah, that was her second choice," Adrien said. "When I told her I couldn't."

"But you said you trusted her judgement? There wasn't any story about a new hero totally making a fool of himself? Only good look at snake boy was with Party Crasher," Chloe said, looking confused.

Adrien held the pillow closer, looking away and closing his eyes. He didn't answer. Chloe waited, continuing to stroke his hair, trying to figure out what happened.

"The Snake's power is Second Chance. You start it and the next five minutes, you can go back however much you want," Plagg said, having flown over, even sans cheese. Moving to perch by Adrien neck, nuzzling into the side of his neck. Chloe was pretty sure he figured out what was up and of course Adrien assumed worse of his reactions.

"Sounds like a pretty good power," Chloe said, tilting her head. "So what, you just erased your time being the Snake? So what? You didn't do well and gave it up," she said.

Adrien curled up more, starting to shake.

And....

And it's Adrien. Adrien who had worried about his sick mother. Adrien who kept trying to reach out for his father. Adrien who gave her more patience then people thought she deserved.

Adrien who didn't give up on his loved ones.

"Oh." She said quietly. "Oh no. No. Adrikins, how.....how many times did you try?"

What made him give up?

"25,913," Adrien said quietly.

Chloe stared at that number. So many times. So many times and it was his power. That meant he had to be up to use it, which meant failure....failure meant it was Ladybug...

The girl he loved, the girl he loved who had asked him, thought this was best with him...

He was rubbing at his eyes, but he wasn't crying, because of course he wasn't. Adrien didn't cry, didn't dare let himself for whatever reason she couldn't fathom. She didn't see him cry after his mother, didn't cry over his father, didn't cry about being taken out of school. Just sad and resigned and he looked about ready to cry now and he was still fighting it.

Chloe was terrible at empathy, but she knew this feeling. The feeling of not being good enough, of not being able to help someone she loved. She knew it so well, and she knows she wouldn't have even made it to the hundredth time without breaking, she doesn't know how he managed to do it that long and not be a mess.

Chloe sniffled.

Adrien's eyes snapped open, staring at Chloe. Eyes wide, surprised, and then...accepting. Because this isn't the first time and it probably won't be the last.

If Adrien wouldn't cry, then Chloe would. She shifted, pulling Adrien up into a fierce hug as she began to cry for him. Like she did for his mom, like she did when he lost school, because he wasn't going to cry on his own, but she knew he deserved it. Because thinking of Adrien suffering that much hurt her because he didn't deserve it.

He didn't.

She didn't know pretty words to say. She didn't know how to reassure and give hope. Those things were beyond her, but she could be here, and she could prove she cared, and she knows it's the right choice when he hugs back, fierce and desperate, body shaking, and words start to pour out.

Most doesn't make sense. Saying ways he tried to save her, the things he told her, the ways he messed up, and the things he did just to give himself a break. He told her he loved her, he told her who he was, he told her how much he wanted it all to stop, because every couple of hundred times, he had to do something, had to be selfish and say what he wanted so he could try hundreds of times more. 

How many times Ladybug would tell him he was good, that he could do this, and he would go along because he wanted it to be true.

He wouldn't cry, but he would shake, and babble and say the words he dare not say to anyone else. He admitted he's had the nightmare a few times, where Ladybug would disappear in an Akuma's attack, but sometimes it's worse, so much worse, and it's always his fault.

And Chloe would cry and hiccup as she held him, and Plagg would keep himself pressed to the side of his neck, purring, and all the sounds are chaos in the room.

But at least the chaos was no longer trapped inside of his head.

~~~~

"My face is going to be a mess tomorrow," Chloe complained, tossing away the tissue into a wastebasket she'd moved closer after getting a glass of water.

Adrien laughed, weak, but at least it's more from exhaustion then emotional detachment. "I didn't expect you to cry...."

"You tried to save the love of your life over twenty-five thousand times! It's really sad, I'm not heartless," Chloe said with a scoff.

Adrien hummed, closing his eyes, burying his face in the pillow. He doesn't bring up she cried instead of him. Neither does Chloe. It was one of those things they just didn't talk about.

Chloe shifted down on the bed, pulling up the blankets over them both. It wasn't usual for them to sleep in the same bed, not since they were kids, but Adrien was always particularly touch starved after nights like these.

And honestly, so was Chloe.

Societal conventions could frankly go screw themselves, Chloe figured. They were allowed some ultimately innocent human contact. Especially when trying to get at least a few more hours before school.

"My Lady told me about your plan. Why did you keep that secret?" Adrien asked, voice lacking enough force to be accusatory.

Chloe jerked a bit. Then she looked away sheepishly. "Because if I told you, you'd say it'd be up to Ladybug," she said. "And you'd try to talk me out of it and fuss and basically it was a lot of hassle when I couldn't get an answer out of you." 

"Hm. Fair point," Adrien said.

Chloe nodded and looked at him from the corner of her eye. "So she talked to you about it?"

Adrien hummed. "She did. Gave a whole layout. Are you really being stalked by Mayura? Don't lie."

Chloe huffed. "....yes. Not all the time. Just Akuma attacks where you guys end up needing to ask for help, and not all of those. Just the worse ones," she said.

"It'll get worse if we go through with this," Adrien said, trepidation in his voice, reaching for her hand. "You'd really be putting your life in danger."

Chloe looked down at their hands. "You already are."

There was a long silence at that.

"I....I'm not like you, Adrien," Chloe said softly. "I'm not...selfless. I'm not even nice. But being a superheroine means....well, you know what it means."

Adrien nodded. "It means being exceptional." And all that really entailed. Adrien of all people knew how Chloe operated, what being exceptional meant.

"Without question. No one is gonna tolerate an incompetent superhero," she said. "And....I thought I was pretty good at it, starting out."

"You were pretty good for a newbee," Adrien said with a bit of a grin.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Oh my god."

"Sorry, sorry, no more puns."

Chloe huffed. "So....like I do want to be a superhero for my reasons," she said. "But then there's you and....Adrien, how many times as Chat Noir almost died?" Adrien didn't answer for a very long moment. "Exactly. And I get it. I _do_ because Ladybug can fix you and is needed to fix everything, but one of these days....one of these days, she might not. And the thought of that happening, when I _know_ I could have protected you, but I didn't because I was scared..."

Adrien pulled her close with his other arm, his turn to hold her as she started to shake.

"It's bad enough knowing I could, and can't because it's not my call. But I'm not going to run," she said. "You're my first friend. You're my best friend." He was the boy she loved. "I don't want to lose you."

"I understand," Adrien said softly. Because of course he did. It was the same thing that plagued him, but he knows what it's like when that person wasn't going to come back. She knew he of all people could understand all her reasoning.

"....do you know what Ladybug is going to decide?" Chloe asked softly.

Adrien shook his head. "If we go through with this, we need to set up a few things before hand. We need to see how well all of that goes before we can decide on you for sure," he said and paused. "But Ladybug is thinking about it, pretty seriously."

And if Marinette was willing to trust her that much to still be considering it...

Chloe sighed. "Just try to not die until I can watch your back," she said.

Adrien chuckled and held her close. "I'll do my best."

And Chloe just hoped that was enough, letting her exhaustion catch up to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Chat Blanc was wild.
> 
> Also the first time we saw Adrien cry despite his life being his life.
> 
> And considering how much Chloe cried in the Collector, just kind of decided maybe that's a Thing. And I had to address THAT GROUNDHOG DAY THING because god Adrien. G O D.


	10. Secret of pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Blanc Spoilers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO MANY CHAT BLANC SPOILERS.

"Dupain-Cheng?" Chloe said in confusion as she opened the door to see Marinette. She'd told the staff Marinette was to be allowed up to visit her, but honestly, she never expected that order to come to pass.

And yet, here she was. 

"We need to talk," Marinette said, her face deadly serious and she pushed past Chloe into her room, heading over to her balcony windows. Scanning outside as she started pulling the blinds across them.

"You don't have to be so pushy," Chloe said with a scoff, closing her door and locking it behind her. She crossed the room to get the doors in the bedroom part of her room, looking around for any signs of blue. The fact Marinette seemed so on edge was quickly putting her on edge. "What's going o-"

Of course, she expected any danger to come from outside.

Chloe was cut off as Marinette suddenly had her pinned to the wall, an arm over her neck, the other pinning one of her hands to the wall. She was glaring up at Chloe with hellfire in her eyes, and as Chloe tried to squirm away, her grip just tightened on her wrist until it was painful.

Her first reaction is surprise.

Her second reaction is wow, okay, Dupain-Cheng can actually be super hot and that is definitely something to not think about right now.

Third was this was getting painful.

"W-what are you....?" Chloe gasped. When was Marinette so _strong?_

"Did you tell anyone my identity yesterday?" Marinette demanded.

"What-no! Y-you're hurting me-" Chloe said, grabbing at the arm over her neck.

"I mean it, Chloe! Did you tell anyone? Did you plan to tell anyone? Did you do anything to make anyone possibly figure out who I am?!" Marinette demanded.

"No!" 

Marinette glared at her for several seconds longer.

"Marinette, she won't remember if you scare her," Tikki said softly.

Marinette was still a moment longer, then she finally stepped back and Chloe took in a deep gasp of air. "Think, Chloe. Are you _sure?_ " She demanded.

Chloe rubbed at her neck and moved away from the walls. "Yes, I'm sure! What the hell, Dupain-Cheng, what's with the sudden psycho treatment?" She demanded.

Marinette was pacing, biting at her thumb, her other arm wrapped around her torso. "Adrien didn't talk to you about a strange visit yesterday, right?"

"No?" Chloe said, getting more confused. No, all Adrien did was show up at her room in the middle of the night, but there was certainly no mention of a strange visit.

"Maybe that's all I needed to do, we might really be safe...." Marinette muttered.

"I think you were right the first time, Marinette. It was the signature," Tikki said, trying to soothe her.

"But what if it's not? Argh, why did I forget about Chloe?! What if it wasn't enough?! What if....what if..." Marinette tugged at her hair, obviously having some kind of meltdown.

Chloe wasn't quite sure what to do with this. She looked at Tikki, who was still looking at Marinette with concern. She huffed, no help there. She kept rubbing her neck, still debating if she should call security. But she's never known Marinette to get violent. Even Ladybug herself didn't seem to do a lot of attacking in anger. The fact she got all aggressive like this NOW is....

It's weird.

She let out a loud, annoyed sigh. "All right, Dupain-Cheng, you're doing that downward spiral thing of being trapped in your own head."

"What? No, I'm not!" Marinette protested.

"Puh-lease, I've tormented you for years, I know what you look like when you're having a meltdown," Chloe scoffed with a wave of her hand, earning another glare. "Oh, don't even. You just tried to choke me and here I am, about to be nice," she said, glaring right back.

At least Marinette managed to look a little guilty at that. "I....overreacted. Sorry," she said, rubbing at the back of her neck.

"You can apologize by explaining what that was about. As much as is safe or whatever. You just avoided me like the plague when I actually discovered your identity, something happened if you decided to be aggro now," Chloe said.

Marinette hesitated, looking away.

"....look, I ain't going to do comforting words or any of that, I'm terrible at it, but if you say it, then I can tell you when you're being ridiculous," Chloe said.

Marinette looked at Chloe, then at Tikki, tapping her chin. "Hawk Moth already knows about Bunnyx...." She said.

Chloe scoffed. "Like I'd tell him anything."

"And anything else is my word against hers."

"Wow, such faith."

"...you won't tell anyone what I said?" Marinette asked, looking uncertain.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Who'd I'd even tell?" She said. "Listen, you need to save the city. You can't do that if you completely break down. It's in my own interest in making sure you're at least a little mentally sound," she said.

Marinette looked at Chloe, then looked at Tikki who looked just as uncertain. Marinette then looked at Chloe, who was still rubbing at her neck.

But not whining about it. And it made Marinette remember the library.

And it wasn't as if she had anyone else she could talk about, she could only find Fu thanks to Lucky Charms and she absolutely couldn't tell Chat Noir.

"There's a Miraculous that allows time travel," Marinette said. "The Rabbit. Bunnyx showed up yesterday, saying something happened that caused things to go....wrong. Really wrong," Marinette said, starting to pace, arms wrapped around herself. "I didn't know what she was talking about so she pulled me into the near future and told me to purify the Akuma and it was....it was Chat Noir. He was Chat Blanc."

Chloe is glad Marinette isn't looking at her, too busy pacing and talking to not see the look of horror on Chloe's face. And the concern. Adrien had been Akumatized?

Likewise, Chloe's focus on Marinette meant she didn't see Tikki had noticed.

"And he....he....it was everything, Chloe. Everything was destroyed. Paris was underwater, the Moon was split in half, and when I ended up underwater, there were just....these statues of...of dust...of people who died," Marinette said, her voice getting quiet, body shaking. "Chat Blanc had done all of it. He was hurting so much, demanding my Miraculous because he thought he could fix what he'd done. I couldn't even talk to him, he was just hurting and desperate to fix it and he wouldn't let me help and I couldn't....I couldn't..."

She was starting to cry, rubbing at her eyes. "He said our love did it. Our love and because our identities were exposed. Somehow it broke his heart and he....he was taken and I know. I know that's not my Chat Noir, not my kitty, he even regretted what he did as an Akuma. But if that happened because I broke his heart, how do I....how can I....and all I could think of is he found out who I was and that led to this because Bunnyx knew it was that day and I did something so stupid, I delivered a present to Adrien from Marinette by sneaking into his room as Ladybug and I think he saw me and he figured it out and he told people and then too many people knew and Chat Noir knew and how am I supposed to date Adrien if he figured it out from that, what if he figures me out because of too many excuses for our dates or maybe I arrive at a date as Ladybug or I call him my boyfriend as Ladybug or-"

Marinette stopped as a blanket was draped over her back.

"You're getting into ridiculous territory," Chloe said, stepping in front of Marinette and pulling the blanket close. "I'm going to draw you a bath. You can use whatever is in there to your hearts content and whatever towels. I can just burn them later."

Marinette hiccuped. " _Really_ Chloe?" She asked, sniffling through the tears.

Chloe shrugged. "I have to remind you I'm still me, but....I mean, that sounds like an actual nightmare, so whatever. Being nice it is and not calling security for you being a psycho," she said with an eyeroll and getting a manic giggle from Marinette. And honestly, she'd take befuddled hysterics over the depression spiral she was seeing.

And it distracted herself for the time being.

"Come on, I'll show you where things are," Chloe said, heading for her bathroom and starting the water as Marinette looked around in awe.

"....do all rich people have bathrooms like this?" Marinette said quietly.

"If they don't, they're fools," Chloe said, and showed Marinette where everything she'd need was stored and which brush to use, after going through them with a critical eye. "This one is about to be thrown out anyway, you can use it," she said.

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Thanks," she said dryly. Her eyes were red and she still looked pretty miserable, but at least not as utterly miserable as she did.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm amazing, we know," Chloe said.

"Of course we do." Marinette's tone continued to be just as dry.

"Just get in the tub. You can wear the robe and we can....I don't know, watch some old fashion week videos and eat chocolate," Chloe said. "Just relax, I'll let you know if an Akuma shows up and I can feed the little bug some cookies," she added, moving to leave the bathroom.

"Chloe." Chloe stopped, looking back. Marinette wasn't looking at her, staring at the bubble filled water. "...thank you. I....I think I needed to get that out," she said quietly.

"....you're welcome, or something," Chloe said, quickly escaping the room.

Chloe made good on her promise of getting Tikki some cookies, making sure to set them down on the coffee table in front of her television. She puts on the news and kept it on low, in case there was an Akuma attack.

Not muted, as she sat her back to it, so she could see the bathroom door.

At least Tikki seemed inclined to take her cookies even if she keeps side eyeing Chloe.

Chloe let the silence reign a little while longer, faintly hearing music from the bathroom as Marinette turned on sound system to play relaxing music. Even better, she won't have to watch her volume as much. She has thick walls, but the inner ones were far thinner.

"Those two switched Miraculous a while ago. That means you know what Chat Noir is, don't you?" Chloe asked.

Tikki paused at the question, then she looked at Chloe, rather unimpressed. "This isn't a path you want to follow to impress Marinette," she said. "She's already changed the timeline, and is just more determined to not share their identities. He's not a threat."

"Oh, of course not. I'd never consider Adrien a threat," Chloe said.

Tikki froze mid-bite. She slowly lowered the cookie. "What makes you think Adrien is Chat Noir?" She asked.

Chloe shrugged. "He didn't ditch me for that one thread Akuma. What was is? Seamline? Seamstress? Something about seams," she said, waving her hand in the air. "He saw Ladybug was in danger, and when it comes to Ladybug or himself, of course he's going to prioritize her."

Tikki didn't say anything, just looking at Chloe with suspicion, like she wasn't sure if this was a trap.

Which, okay, fair enough.

Chloe huffed. "I don't need you to confirm or deny. Though honestly, you should be glad. Any uncertainty I had on Dupain-Cheng being Ladybug pretty much didn't matter because he'd have been upset if I didn't keep it secret. I just want to know what happened. The events that led to Chat Blanc," she said.

"It's been taken care of Chloe," Tikki said firmly.

"I know that, but that's not the problem! Just....explain it, okay? It might be nothing," Chloe said. "Can it really hurt to tell me?"

Tikki was silent for several long moments, considering. "Adrien was late returning home yesterday. Marinette was trying to deliver a present to him when he was still out. Nathalie denied her entry, so Marinette decided to deliver it to his room as Ladybug."

"And you really let her do that?" Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tikki huffed. "I didn't approve, but she can be a little....enthusiastic, with her solutions," she said.

Chloe snorted. "One way of putting it. Go on," she said with a wave of her hand.

"She had signed this one, and left. Shortly after, Bunnyx appeared, asking if she did anything odd that day because that is what led to the future. Marinette believes that when she left Adrien's room, he had caught sight of her and put two and two together. Chat Blanc blamed the state of the world on their love and revealed identities. So Marinette believes Adrien told someone else, and word got out until Chat Noir heard," Tikki said and Chloe has to bite back another snort as the careful act of not lying. Marinette believing and the truth were different things. "How that led to the events are unclear. However, Chat Blanc knew about Marinette's desire for a hamster, something he shouldn't know about now, so it may be they had a relationship for a while. Then Marinette broke his heart for some reason. He was willing to believe she didn't love him after being convinced she did love him. This seems to be what Akumatized him and he destroyed Paris in result. Hawk Moth and Ladybug seemed to have been at ground zero."

Chloe was silent as she thought about it. Looking over it at different angles, trying to figure it out. "Do you know if Marinette knew his identity?" She asked.

"No, that part was unclear," Tikki said.

Chloe hummed, threading her hands together, elbows on the table, chin resting on them. Every which way, it doesn't....it doesn't fit.

"How do you think Marinette would act if she knew his identity?" She asked.

Tikki hesitated. "...not like Ladybug," she said finally.

"So more like a lovestruck Marinette," she said.

"It's....possible that Marinette realized that wasn't acceptable and broke things off," Tikki said.

"Thus the broken heart," Chloe said. "Except....except it still doesn't make _sense._ " 

Tikki tilted her head. "What doesn't?"

"The sequence of events. That's not how he would react with a broken heart," Chloe said.

"You sound very certain on that," Tikki said. "It's a broken heart, Chloe. People would be upset, lash out, it's not unsurprising. Whatever opinion you have on Chat Noir's character, he's still human."

Chloe scoffed. "Don't mistake me for his fangirls, I've grown up with that boy," she said heatedly. "The only person who might know that boy better is the cheese monster and that's just because they've been together every moment since he got him," she said, glaring at Tikki who seemed taken aback, but was looking at her with more consideration. "I know that boy. I know how he is with tragedy. I was the one with him when his mother disappeared. I've been with him for every tragedy since we were kids. I know him. I got him into that school in the first place because I realized he needed more than me."

"You got him into school?" Tikki asked in surprise. 

"Of course. His father wasn't going to approve and the staff wouldn't do it. I pulled the strings necessary to get him registered because he needed people," Chloe said.

"What about his father?"

"His father isn't there for him. See, that's the thing you nor Dupain-Cheng know. I know his home life. I know what he goes through," Chloe said. "Adrien has a process for bad things. First step, he avoids it. He runs away. You saw it with Frozer, right? He was upset, so he ran off, that's what he does. Then he'll evolve one of two ways. He gets passive aggressive, when it's really cries for help, or he doubles down on the nice. He tries and makes things work. He will bend over backwards if he has to if he thinks it'll work," she said. "And if that doesn't work...."

"Then he lashes out," Tikki said.

"No. Not out," Chloe said, staring down at the table. "For a moment, he might want to, but he's only ever putting the blame on others a few moments. Then he starts blaming himself. He thinks it's his fault, he needs to be better, and he bends over backwards more and he will make himself miserable, hurt himself, if he thinks it will somehow make things better. Because that's how Adrien is. He doesn't hurt his loved ones. Maybe get overbearing and sulky, but he never gets confrontational with loved ones. Look how long it took him to confront me and you know how he is defending others. He will hurt himself a million times before confronting someone he loves," she said quietly.

She had seen it before. After Emilie had disappeared, she had seen Adrien wither away. Going through the motions he was told, never smiling for real, only model smiles. Never happy. Always so withdrawn. Even when she presented him the papers to go to school, he had rejected her offer at first because he didn't want to upset his father, didn't want to hurt him. It took Chloe insisting for him to go through with it and that had been convincing him to do something he desperately wanted to do.

"Left alone, Adrien will destroy himself first. But Chat Blanc destroyed everything else, didn't he?" Chloe asked.

"He did. That level of power would take decades for a Black Cat user to master," Tikki said slowly. "The Butterfly gave him a shortcut, but it also made him mentally unstable."

"But getting Akumatized, it's about giving powers the person wants, right?" Chloe asked, looking up and seeing Tikki nod. "Adrien wouldn't want the power to destroy the world, and he definitely wouldn't want the power to destroy everything and leave himself alone. The boy wants people. Especially when he's hurting, he wants comfort. He just wants to be away from the problem."

"You think the broken heart isn't what did it," Tikki said.

"I know it didn't, not alone," Chloe said. "I think he's trying to make it his fault somehow and that's the only way he could do it. Because if broken heart made Adrien prime Akumatization real estate, he should have been taken a lot earlier. His father has been breaking his heart for like a year now," she said. "Something else happened."

"But now it won't," Tikki said. "We've changed the timeline. The revealed identity led to it, so if we avoid that, then there's no problem."

"Except that thing could still exist," Chloe said. "I don't think you understand exactly how bad something has to be for him to decide to hurt others, especially before himself."

"....what would be that bad?" Tikki asked.

Chloe thought for a long while. "If Ladybug wasn't as ground zero, I'd say her death, but if it's not that....I don't know. Maybe another loved one killed in front of him, but that....that would be targetted, not so widespread," she said. "Something that would make him want to destroy that much, where he'd follow through even in a suped up rage...I can't imagine what it'd be."

There was silence between the two, with just the news and distant rain sounds in the bathroom. The atmosphere now heavy with a feeling of dread as it settles in that the first domino for Chat Blanc may have been avoided for now.

But it may very well only be a 'for now.'

And that was a terrifying thought. For Tikki, the pain it'd cause her wielder, for her other half, and for the world at large. And the boy himself. He didn't seem to have any idea why he'd been Akumatized, but the fact he seemed okay did make it more likely he hadn't remembered yet. Which meant it was probably highly traumatic.

And for Chloe, it was just for her friend. Adrien didn't hurt people. What hurt him so badly that that had changed.

What was in Adrien's life that could do that?

The music stop and there was the sound of draining water.

Chloe and Tikki looked up. "Just keep eating," she said, standing up, slapping her cheeks until she could put on her usual annoyed expression. She knew just telling Marinette what was up would just end in more freak outs and chaos, no, whatever this was needed some delicacy. 

For now, time for her to play therapist.

Again.

Ugh, she better get her Bee at this rate, she needed Pollen just so she could rant about all this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....maybe made Mari a bit aggressive, but I'm down for Mari pinning people to walls and if anything is going to put her into a rage, the fear that something will make Chat go through all that would do it. Especially when she gave up finally expressing her feelings to Adrien in some way. And it's so very easy to be mad at Chloe.
> 
> Also I kind of liked the thought Time Travel Happened This Day would kind of cause Adrien to have nightmares about his own Time Shenanigans. Temporal ripple effect.


	11. Intermission 2

It had taken some time to convince Master Fu. Especially since it took a while for Tikki to agree to change to try and find him. After Marinette had a break down on Chloe Bourgeois of all people, Tikki seemed more willing to let go of some of her reservation on the plan. With Tikki's agreement, Ladybug was finally able to summon a Lucky Charm to lead her to the old guardian.

It had been a long talk in the park he was acting as temporary groundskeeper. But Marinette was ready. The fact was, she was needing help more and more often and while Fu moving around was keeping him safe for now, the more Ladybug needed to find him, the higher the risk was Hawk Moth would catch on what was happening. And Marinette being seen with Fu put her own identity in danger. It was better to have people waiting in the wings.

The Chloe Bourgeois plan was a harder sell. Fu was hesitant to put that much trust in Chloe. But he was willing to trust Marinette's judgement and the fact she was willing to trust Chloe at all said a lot. Though he insisted the others were to be trained first before trying to go through with it, at the very least. 

But so far, not putting a little faith in people has burned them. It almost drove Chat away, and that had been what lead to the Feast fiasco. 

It was a reasonable request to hold off on Chloe, however, and one Marinette was thinking to do herself.

Marinette had left with the Snake and Fox Miraculous. Master Fu was still most familiar with the turtle and while temporary loans were fine, he didn't want to give away the one he was best at with the situation as it was.

~~~

It wasn't particularly hard to find when Alya and Nino were alone. She just had to wait until Alya told her they were off on a date and where. She had the perfect opportunity within three days.

They had just gotten out of a movie, heading towards Alya's house. Ladybug just had to wait until the were headed down a nearly deserted street and drop down to an alley and get their attention as they passed. They glanced around in confusion before following her somewhere out of sight.

"Ladybug, do you need our help? I didn't hear anything about an Akuma," Alya asked in confusion.

"There's no Akuma, but I do need your help," Ladybug said, pulling out the Miraculous Box and held it out to Alya. "Alya Cesaire, I'm granting you the Fox Miraculous. Indefinitely."

Alya's eyes widened. "S-serioulsy?" She asked, reaching out to take the box.

"Yes. Nino, yours is....complicated. I may call on you in the future, but as things stand, it's needed elsewhere. I hope you understand," she said.

Nino looked at Alya, concern, before Ladybug's eyes. "....secret superhero stuff?" He asked.

Ladybug nodded. "Need to know basis. Chat Noir and I are the only ones to know," she said and gave Alya a pointed look. "None of our new teammates will know."

Alya opened her mouth. Then closed it. "You make it really hard on a girl, don't you?" She asked.

Ladybug shrugged. "Sorry. For the greater good, and all."

Alya looked down at the Box and then sighed. "For the greater good," she said, opening the box, the ball of light popping into existence and revealing Trixx. 

"Looks like we'll get to have a lot more fun together," Trixx said with a wide grin.

"Looks like," Alya said as she put on the necklace. She glanced at Nino and gave him a sympathetic look. "Sorry."

Nino still looked conflicted, before sighing and taking her hand. "Just....be careful, okay? If I can't be there to watch your back," he said.

"I will," she said, squeezing his hand and leaning closer to kiss his cheek.

"I am sorry, Nino," Ladybug said. "But I'll need both of your help."

"You will?" Nino asked.

Ladybug nodded. "Alya, with the Sentimonsters and stronger Akumatizations, Chat Noir and I decided we needed more heroes on call without having to always come track you down. I'm giving out the Miraculous to those I trust the most. You're one. Nino would have been one and if things change with the turtle, I probably will recruit you. The other is Viperion," she said. "Come to Notre Dame's rooftop tomorrow night, we'll be discussing patrols and training."

"Understood, Ladybug," Alya said. 

"But there is also something else...." Ladybug said, frowning. "It's a plan that I put together with Queen Bee."

"Chloe?!" The couple said in surprise.

Ladybug nodded. "After you told me what she said about Mayura, I had a long talk with Chloe," she said. "And she made...a lot of good points."

"Wait...she seriously has a way to take her down?" Alya asked in surprise.

"Dude, you know what she's talking about?" Nino asked in confusion.

"Mayura's been stalking Chloe. Chloe brought this up to Alya in hopes I'd hear about it," Ladybug said. "And she has a plan to capture Mayura. Mainly by her playing bait."

"Why does Mayura want Chloe?" Nino asked.

"Hawk Moth thinks he can recruit her."

"Yeah, okay." "That makes sense."

Really, all three of them believed that.

"And you really think she won't join him?" Alya asked.

Ladybug hesitated.

"...she might not," Nino said and both girls looked at him questioningly. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Chloe's friends with my best bud. And she's been like. Trying to be a better friend to him. Going out of her way to make him happy. And she like asked me how to be a better friend to Sabrina and it looks like she's been trying to do it. And like, the Chloe I know would have thrown a tantrum and tried to fire like a dozen people if she was asked to give up something she really wanted. She gave up the Miraculous even though you said she couldn't have it. So like, she's still a brat, but I think she's actually trying to be better? Maybe?"

"...she did offer to help my best friend get with Adrien," Alya said.

"What?!" Both Ladybug and Nino squawked.

They both gave Ladybug odd looks. "I-I just didn't take Chloe for the matchmaking sort?" Ladybug said awkwardly.

"...right," Alya said, not sure if she believed it. "She was just like 'it'd make Adrien happy' and making it pretty clear it was all about Adrien, but she was also crushing on him pretty hard, so at least when it comes to Adrien, she could be selfless."

"So long as not helping Hawk Moth makes Adrien happy, we're probably good. And Adrien would never support a supervillain," Nino said.

"Yeah. He...he did seem pretty nice. The few times I've had to save him, I mean," Ladybug said, trying to get over the fact apparently Chloe wanted to play matchmaker? For her?????

Did Chloe get replaced by a clone because now she's seriously wondering if this is a doppleganger situation.

"But you said you wanted me to help with Queen Bee?" Nino asked.

"Right! Mayura's been stalking her. We think if we start recruiting Chloe more, Mayura may up her efforts. Chloe's even pointed out we could be using her status as known as being a sort of direct line of communication, getting Akuma reports since not everyone trusts a blog, even if it's been very helpful," Ladybug said.

"I could see it. I get enough trolls in my messages," Alya said. "Though the thought Chloe is seen as more reliable..." She look rather put out by that.

"She's a known superhero. It can't be helped," Ladybug said with an apologetic smile. "But doing this is dangerous. Very dangerous, especially for Chloe. She's putting a target on her back."

"So you want us to watch it," Nino said.

Ladybug nodded. "You can keep an eye out for Mayura, see if the stalking starts to increase. If things go wrong, she has someone to keep her safe since we can't let her keep the Bee. If we need to, we can get the Bee to her through you guys."

"So play bodyguard. For Chloe," Alya said flatly.

"I know, but at least she doesn't know you're doing it," Ladybug said.

"Could be worse. I'm around her a lot now anyway, she's been helping me hang with Adrien more," Nino said.

"So you'll both do this?" Ladybug asked.

Nino and Alya looked at each other. Then they looked at Ladybug and nodded.

Ladybug smiled. "I knew I could rely on you."

~~~

"It was Luka Couffaine. He was Viperion," Ladybug said, handing over the box.

Chat Noir is surprised. "I thought it was better I didn't know?" He said.

"It's still better to limit who knows," Ladybug said. "But...but if someday I am Akumatized, I think your best bet would be to get him by your side as soon as possible," she said. Chloe's words still weighing on her mind.

If she was Akumatized, then Chat would have minimal help in stopping her, and need to be more careful of damage. Luka would be invaluable for that.

Chat Noir was silent a few moments, before nodding his head. "I understand, My Lady."

~~~

There was a light strumming in the air, nothing so loud to wake his sister, but it was helping Luka unwind. Humming a tune he's been trying to nail down for weeks now.

A tune that was interrupted by a light tapping on his window. He looked over, expecting a pigeon to be trying to get in, only to see a clawed hand instead.

That was weird.

Luka set down his guitar, moving over to the window and looking outside to see Chat Noir there, hanging on the side of the boat, pointing up towards the deck. Luka nodded and Chat Noir grinned, before disappearing from sight.

Luka carefully made his way outside, being careful to not wake his sister or mother. 

Chat waved from the end of the boat, carefully hidden from view of the land by the instruments and the protective awning. "Good evening, Luka," he said as the other boy got close.

"Hey," he said, looking around. "If this is a recruitment, this seems to be the calmest Akuma ever," he commented.

Chat chuckled. "Well, it is a recruitment. It's just a different sort," he said, pulling out a box. "As in this isn't temporary. Luka Couffaine, Ladybug and I are asking if you would like to be Viperion permanently."

Luka was taken aback at that. He looked at the box, a thoughtful look on his face. "Why?"

"Ah, getting all the information. Guess that's why you're a good Snake," Chat said with a bemused look. Then he looked at Luka more seriously. "Things are getting more dangerous. My Lady would pass out the Miraculous temporarily because it seemed safer to keep them somewhere secure. But we're asking for help so much, it's becoming more dangerous to go back and forth. We're not asking everyone to come on permanently, just a few we feel are the most trustworthy and have uncompromised identities."

"But Adrien knows who I am," Luka pointed out.

"And he's said nothing so far," Chat said. "But weighing pros and cons, the Snake's power is something we want out."

"I know it's powerful, but isn't that why you don't?" Luka asked.

Chat shook his head. "No, that's why we're telling you to only come out if you really feel you need to," he said. "We trust your judgement, but your power is good in two ways. If the unthinkable happens and Ladybug is Akumatized, you're our best bet to minimize damage." Because if Chat's honest, he's pretty sure that's why Ladybug is risking the fact Adrien knows. He understands how hard it is.

And of course Chat can't worry about Adrien's secret keeping ability.

Luka nodded. "I could see that, but what's the other?"

"We have a plan. A very risky plan. One that puts a person in direct danger. They've agreed to it, it's actually their idea, but all the more reason to have a safety net like you around," he said.

"You want me to keep them safe," Luka said, a look of understanding on his face. Then he holds out his hand. "I accept."

"Can't say no to that, huh?" Chat asked, handing it over.

"It means if I'm conflicted, I know what you need me to accomplish. I might try too much if I don't, like when I was too quick to act with Party Crasher," Luka said with a bit of an embarrassed smile. He opens the box, Sass soon appearing in a ball of light.

"It's good to see you again. I hope we can do great things together," Sass said politely.

Luka smiled back. "It sounds like that's the plan," he said and looked at Chat. "Who is it?"

"Are you familiar with Chloe Bourgeois?" Chat asked.

"Chloe...wait, you don't mean the Chloe in Juleka's class? The Mayor's daughter?" Luka asked.

"That's the one."

Luka was silent for several moments. "From what Juleka said, I'm surprised she would volunteer to be put into danger," he said.

Chat shrugged. "People are full of surprises. She was also Queen Bee," he said.

"That's right. She exposed her identity. I know I have Adrien, but doesn't all of Paris know about her?" Luka asked.

"Yeah, and I'm afraid whatever Juleka has said probably isn't so far off the mark for how pleasant she can be as a person," Chat admitted sheepishly. "But that's also why Hawk Moth think he can recruit her."

Luka seemed to consider that for a few moments. "And you and Ladybug have reason to believe it won't work."

Chat Noir nodded. "That's right. I know it can be hard to believe if you meet her, but we have faith she won't turn. And that she can see this through. We'll be recruiting someone else as more active help. We'd like it if you mostly hung back and just acted when it seems like we really need you. Keep Hawk Moth from figuring out you always have the Miraculous and surprise him."

"If you think that's best...." Luka said slowly, looking down at the braclet. "I think I can manage that. I'll keep out of his sight."

"I know you will. Bright side though, we are going to be training you. Just out of sight, so you're ready for when we need you. So meet us at Notre Dame tomorrow night, all right?" Chat said, pulling out his baton.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Luka said.

Chat grinned and saluted before vaulting off into the night.

Luka watched him go before looking at Sass. "The important thing is Hawk Moth doesn't know I'm around, right?"

"That's correct," Sass said.

"So it's all right if I help people as long as there's no evidence I'm around, right?" Luka asked.

Sass paused and then he chuckled. "Yes, I believe so."

Luka smiled at that and looked down at the bracelet. "Full time superhero. And here I thought my mom was the most wild thing in my life," he said with amusement before heading back to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting the band together.
> 
> Also Marinette may have forgotten how Adrien could keep Viperion's identity secret just fine, but apparently not hers, but to be fair, the girl was under a lot of stress.


	12. Secret of saving Marinette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug, part 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess spite is a hell of a motivator for writing. If canon will not do right by her, I will.

The moment the answer sheet came out, Chloe knew this was going to turn into a horror show. She's less than surprised when Marinette accuses Lila of setting her up because Marinette's always been a sucker for bait and that was bait if she ever saw one.

Even as the two leave, everyone else is talking despite Bustier trying to calm them down. There is a lot of disbelief that Marinette would do this, who could be framing her, and she can see Alya looking at her suspiciously and Chloe gives her a flat look in turn.

Sadly she hadn't been able to talk to Jagged Stone that day they met. Chloe's been trying to arrange a meeting, but getting Jagged to do anything was like pulling teeth, and she's not sure what's going on for Rose's end. Knowing her, she probably gets distracted with the phone calls, if she's even had a chance to talk to Prince Ali. And she wouldn't doubt Alya isn't being as pushy as she should be because she so hates being wrong. Seriously, she thought Chloe was LADYBUG despite the fact she almost died to the first ever Akuma and was saved by Ladybug just because she saw a yo-yo. It was frustrating and it's slowed down dealing with Lila.

Of course Alya is more inclined to think Chloe was trying to set up some kind of conflict then her 'friend' did something.

Any hope Bustier had of calming down the students went out the window as soon as Lila's shouts came from outside the room, with Bustier rushing to the door to see the girl at the ground level. Principal Damocles tells her to get Marinette's parents from across the street and try to get Lila's mother on the phone.

Chloe is certain that the woman is too busy today and won't get the message until long after all this. If the message wasn't erased by the time Lila got home.

Bustier tells them all to wait in the locker room as she dealt with all this. Probably in an effort to keep them from hearing any yelling from the Principal's Office and have more time from anyone rushing it.

Alya grabs her arm as they head down the stairs, making them delay on the way down. "Is Lila lying?" She asked in a whisper.

"She absolutely is. Cheating can be explained as being framed by someone, but a push makes it her word versus Dupain-Cheng's and with her being accused of cheating, it makes her word weaker," Chloe whispered back.

Alya looked surprised at that reasoning. She looked at Chloe suspiciously, then towards the office.

"There's no way I could have arranged for Lila falling down the stairs," Chloe pointed out. "Not unless you think she'd take a bribe, or a threat, and agree to get Marinette in trouble for cheating. But let's be fair, if she agreed, she can't be as nice as she pretends."

At the very least, she can see the doubt and conflict growing on Alya's face.

"We need evidence, can you think of something that isn't words?" Chloe asked.

"I-" Alya started.

"Alya, Chloe, locker room now," Bustier said after locking her classroom door, giving them a pointed look. "And Alya, I don't want you fighting Chloe."

Chloe snorted. "There's nothing to fight about, Madam Bustier," she called back sweetly and moved into the locker room. "I'm going to try something. You come up with ideas," she said, pulling away from Alya and moving to Adrien, grabbing his arm and pulling him away from the other kids to the far side of the locker room.

"Chloe, wha-" Adrien started.

"We both know she's lying," Chloe said, giving Adrien a hard look.

"I know. She's going to get caught if she pushes it," Adrien said.

Chloe sighed. "Oh, Adrikins, you have FAR too much faith in Principal Damocles. The man cracks under pressure like fine china."

Adrien pause at that, looking up towards the office, uncertain. "I'm sure Marinette can figure a way out."

Chloe put her hands on Adrien's cheeks to make him look at her. "I know you hate conflict, but I need the knight in black armor once I know a plan of attack."

"If we corner Lila too much, we'll have an Akuma on our hands," Adrien said. "She's....dangerous as an Akuma. She always gets abilities that make it hard to keep track of whose who."

"And if we let this continue, Marinette Dupain-Cheng will be akumatized and I can guarantee anything that breaks that girl is going to make something far worse. And you know, considering she's going to be angry because someone's lying, we can probably guess her abilities are going to be truth telling," Chloe hissed.

Adrien's eyes widened. "Oh. Oh no...."

"Yeah," Chloe said. "Think about all the lies you know and what proof you have to counter it."

Adrien grimaced.

Chloe stared at that. "How much is because he knows it?"

"A lot," Adrien said. "Anything 'definite.'"

Chloe groaned, facepalming. "Nothing? Nothing at all?"

Adrien was frowning at the floor and his eyes widened. "I have something. I need to get someone," he said, heading for the door, peeking outside. Once he was sure it was clear, he was off.

"What is Adrien doing?" Alya asked as Chloe walked back. 

"Hopefully something useful. Now do you know what we can do?"

"Maybe provide an alibi. We need to know what Madam Bustier lost those answers," Alya said. "And hope it's a time we can remember."

"It's only been a week, start picking out points you can account for," Chloe said. Too bad there's also been a lot of AKUMA attacks to make it harder. Ugh, this would be so much easier if part of her busy schedule wasn't stuff that had to be hidden.

Though it didn't take long for any efforts to figure out an alibi is interrupted by Principal Daomacles, Madam Bustier, Lila, Marinette, and her parents suddenly coming to the locker room and heading to her locker.

Opening it for a necklace to fall out.

"My grandma's pendant," Lila said with a gasp.

Chloe's eyes looked down as everyone looked at Marinette in horror and surprise.

Checkmate.

"She's making up this whole thing. I didn't do anything, I swear," Marinette said, looking around for any help, eyes looking to the door as it opens and in walks Adrien and Kagami, but before she could even speak.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are exp-"

"Do I really have to call daddy for this?" Chloe asked with an annoyed sigh.

That got the principal to stop and suddenly all eyes were on Chloe as she moved over to Marinette.

"Mademoiselle Bourgeois, I'm....already punishing Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng?" Principal Damocles said in confusion.

"That's why this pains me," Chloe said with an even more dramatic annoyed sigh. "Everyone here can agree that I'd love to see Dupain-Cheng utterly ruined, we've never gotten along, she took my rightful place as class president, and she's been mean to me plenty," she said. She looked around at everyone. "I'm right, everyone would think it's weird I'd want to speak up FOR Dupain-Cheng, right?"

There was a lot of glancing at each other, before near everyone nodded in apparent confusion. Only Alya, and Adrien didn't of her classmates. Even Rose thought it was weird.

"But as a part time superheroine, I can't let injustice go," she said, bending down and picking up the box. "Your grandma gave you a pendant from Bijourterie? That had this box?" she asked, showing it off. "That brand isn't that old."

"I just said my grandmother gave it to me, I don't know when she got it-" Lila started.

"But you told me it was an heirloom," Adrien said, everyone looking back at him in surprise.

Chloe couldn't see Lila's face, but from the way Adrien winced, but then stared back stubbornly, she could guess it was a nasty look.

"...I was merely pointing out Chloe was making an assumption. I just use the box to keep it safe," Lila said, changing tracks.

"Really? You just happen to use a box from one of the brands Gabriel Agreste allows to sell his pieces, because he's the only official brand that makes jewelry based on the Miraculous, and that looks an awful like Rena Rouge's. And Alya here can confirm there hasn't been a Miraculous holder around for about two hundred years, kind of old for your grandma to get a replica," Chloe said, raising an eyebrow.

The silence in the locker room was suddenly thick enough to cut a knife, all eyes on Lila. She looked around at everyone.

"W-well...I shouldn't say...." Lila said.

"Shouldn't say what?" Chloe asked.

"I shouldn't....but if I don't say it, you'll think I'm a liar, and then Marinette will be innocent when she's not and that....it's an injustice then! And I can't let that happen," Lila said, straightening up, putting on a pained, but determined face. "I ask all of you keep this to yourselves, for your own safety, but I'm Rena Rouge," she said with gasps around the room. "Really, I thought better of you, Chloe. You were doing so well as Queen Bee, I was telling Ladybug how we should recruit you more, but now...."

But Chloe would not be deterred. She was waiting for it, because even if the pendant looked similar, it wasn't exact. It was missing the segments. "Really?" She said. "Then let's meet your kwami."

Lila just looked at her in confusion. "My...what?"

Chloe grinned at that. "Kagami. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

All eyes turned around, finally noticing the girl that had come in with Adrien.

Kagami was glaring at Lila now. She looked at Chloe, scowling, before sighing. "There is another part to the Miraculous. We shouldn't be talking about it, however."

Chloe shrugged. "Adrien, Marinette, and Marinette's parents all saw mine," Chloe said. "Six of us know what they are," she said, unaware of just how many of her classmates were now coming to the same realization she was. "Marinette 'this is uncharacteristic of her' Dupain-Cheng, Adrien 'never cause a scandal' Agreste, Kagami 'wouldn't dishonor her name' Tsurugi, and me, who would never speak up for Marinette out of affection. Her parents might lie for Marinette, but the question is, are they even any good at it? Even then, my parents, Monsieur Agreste, and the news people all saw it. If you're concerned about secrets, you could describe a kwami to all six of us in secret and we can confirm if it's true or false. Unless you want to say all six of us are lying," Chloe said, crossing her arms, a triumphant grin crossing her face.

"I'm Lila's friend. I've helped her and supported her, I've even tried to end the fighting between her and Marinette," Alya suddenly said. "When my little sisters were Sapotis, Ladybug timed out while I was with her. I didn't see her, but I saw her kwami. I know what they look like. I wouldn't say she was lying unless she was," she said, giving Lila a hard look. "You could tell me what it looks like, couldn't you, Lila?"

Chloe could see the look of gratitude on Marinette's face, to have Alya actually speaking up and questioning Lila.

Lila was looking back and forth, and Chloe could see the trapped look in her eyes. "That doesn't change everything else Marinette did! She still had my necklace in her locker."

"Oh please. There's no locks, and I've been in her locker long enough to draw on something, planting a box is easy," she said, stepping into Lila space, the girl glaring at her. "And it's weird," she said, shoving back on Lila's shoulder.

"Mademoiselle Bourgeois!" Principal Damocles protested.

"For her to cheat on a MOCK exam," Chloe continued like he hadn't said anything. "When she would only have that score if she missed the exam next month. When her grades are already good. And keep the evidence afterwards."

"You said it's uncharacteristic of her! She's not good at covering her tracks," Lila protested, hate burning in her eyes.

"It's still stupid to cheat on," Chloe said, shoving Lila again, who stumbled back.

"Chloe!" Madam Bustier said, getting between the two. "Physical violence won't be tolerated."

"She's awfully steady on her feet for falling down the stairs," Alix said, staring at Lila's legs.

It was suddenly so quiet, everyone could hear a pin drop.

Because Chloe had shoved Lila, and she hadn't fallen. Hadn't even made a pained sound. After she was supposedly pushed down the stairs.

Marinette was staring at Chloe with wide eyes, in disbelief. Chloe, however, was looking at Lila with a smug look.

"By the way, Ladybug said there was no magical spell to contact her," Chloe said. 

Lila was glaring at Chloe with hate, but there was worry in her eyes. Trying to figure out a way to get out of the spot she was in.

Except she'd never have the chance to even try as suddenly there was a number of scarlet butterflies in the air. One heading right for Lila, the adults, some of their classmates, and Alya, and everyone else starting to scream.

Honestly, it was predictable at this point.

Chloe moved in front of Sabrina, who had started to freak out, trying to think what to do. Adrien and Marinette weren't getting targeted, so that was something. But Lila was, and the ones she'd target...

Chloe grabbed Sabrina's wrist and rushed forward, grabbing Marinette along the way. "Adrikins!" She shouted.

"Got it, Alix, you need to come with us!" Adrien said, already guiding Kagami out of the door. Already forms were starting to change behind them as they hit the doors and it was second until an army of Akuma were going to come out behind them, with Lila liking gunning for them.

Except what follows them out the doors is a swarm of white butterflies.

After months of being the epicenter of Akuma attacks, despite the fact most everyone present had been Akumatize at least once, and a number of them being made temporary heroes....

It was honestly the most bizarre and confusing turn of events that no one expected.

Chloe is disappointed she didn't have phone in hand because the look of utter disappointment and disgust was hilarious. But it was gone far too fast for her to try.

It was an odd kind of tension, with no one quite sure what to do.

Finally, Principal Damocles cleaned his throat. "I think we're all a bit too heated. Madam Bustier, were you able to contact Lila's parents?"

Bustier shook her head. "It's going right to her voicemail."

"Then until we can sort this out with her present, Dupain-Cheng, Rossi, both of you are suspended, but with the option to make up missed work and without the absences held against you until this is sorted. You can pick up the work at the end of the school day or have a friend bring it," Damocles declared.

"What?! But I didn't do anything wrong!" Lila protested.

Damocles raised his hand. "It seems that is up for debate and that is precisely why we should have your parents present. Please tell them to call me, it seems like my calls can never get through."

"But they're very busy!" Lila protested.

"If they can't make time for this, then we may have a deeper problem. If they aren't able to meet within the next week, then you two will proceed with classes as normal while I pursue some avenues I've wanted to hold back on," he said.

"You've...hold back on?" Lila asked, confused.

"Something we can discuss in private, Mademoiselle Rossi. Everyone else, back to class. Monsiuer Dupain, Madame Cheng, I hope you can agree with this compromise?" Damocles asked.

"But I didn't do anything-" Marinette started, but stopped when Tom put a hand on her shoulder.

"We understand this is a complicated situation. I'm sure you'll see our daughter is innocent by the end of this," Sabine said. "Especially with what Chloe so helpfully pointed out," she added, a pointed statement to Damocles.

"Good. She can collect her things, but for now, it's best to let the school day continue," Damocles said, turning to lead Lila away, who was glaring daggers back at them.

"But I didn't...." Marinette started weakly.

"It's okay, Marinette. They'll see the truth," Tom said. "I think it's best for you to get away from the situation for now. You can help us with the bakery today and Alya can bring your homework tonight!"

"But papa..." Marinette started.

"It'll be okay, Marinette," Adrien said, getting her attention. "We won't let you be hurt by lies."

"Yes," Kagami added. "We won't let her get away with this."

Marinette looked at Kagami with surprise. "You're really...?"

Kagami nodded. "I have experience with her. I won't let her hurt my friends."

"And if there's more evidence, we'll find it," Alya said, rubbing the back of her neck. "And...I guess we need to talk later."

Marinette looked between them, gratitude on her face. Finally she nodded. "Okay, I trust you guys. Thank you." Then she looked past them to where Chloe was watching them. "And thank you, Chloe. For standing up for me."

Chloe scoffed, waving dismissively. "I had a score to settle with Rossi anyway. No one takes Chloe Bourgeois for a ride."

Marinette giggled. "If you say so," she said with a small smile.

Chloe scowled, looking away as Marinette was led out of the school.

"That was....really nice of you, Chloe," Sabrina said, looking at her in surprise.

"Like I said, I was angry at Rossi," Chloe protested.

"Chloe..." Sabrina said, giving her a disbelieving look. "You helped Marinette."

"I gotta say, I didn't think you had it in you," Alya said.

"It was very....surprising," Kagami added.

"I told you guys she can be nice. Sometimes," Adrien said, throwing an arm around Chloe's shoulders.

Chloe felt her face heat up. "What is this, I be nice and now you're all bullying me. Tyrants, the lot of you!" She protested and everyone laughed.

"Perhaps Adrien wasn't as blinded as I thought," Kagami said.

"Ouch. I'm hurt, Kagami," Adrien said, a hand over his chest.

"Yeah, surprisingly my childhood friend knows me," Chloe said with a sniff. "....so what are we doing?"

"Looking for evidence to prove Marinette's innocent and Lila is a liar," Alya said, a dark look spreading across her face.

"Wait, you actually believe it now?" Chloe asked, looking surprised. "I've been trying to convince you for weeks!"

"It's like you said, pushing down the stairs is her words versus Marinette's. Even if someone else could have planted the answers and necklace, either Marinette did push Lila down the stairs, or Lila lied about her pushing her down the stairs. And Marinette would never push someone down the stairs, no matter how jealous she was," Alya said, crossing her arms.

"It is pretty silly to think she's jealous. For all Lila's lies tell an amazing story, Marinette's done some pretty amazing things herself," Adrien said. Not even noticing the put upon look on the girl's faces.

"Tsurugi, do me a favor and find Rose during lunch. Tell her to blow up Prince Ali's phone until he answers and make sure she asks if he knows Lila Rossi and if she's been helping him with a plan to reduce the world's pollution and if she's ever been invited to visit Achu," Chloe said.

Kagami raised an eyebrow at that. "And why am I doing this instead of you? Or those who know Rose?"

"Because Adrien can't be forceful, Alya has already been tiptoeing around this subject, and I'm going to find Jagged Stone and drag him here if I have to kidnap his crocodile to do it," Chloe said. "We start exposing Lila's lies, the lies Marinette's been calling her out on, it provides both motive and proof she lies."

"And I'll see if Madam Bustier knows when her answer sheet was stolen, I might be able to get an alibi for Marinette, and see if anyone saw anything," Alya said.

"I'll see what I can do," Adrien said. "I know she's messed with my phone's contacts, she sent Kagami a picture to upset."

"And I would never give her my number," Kagami said.

"But I might have a few other things I could use...." Adrien said, tapping his chin.

"Then it looks like we know where to start," Alya said. "Operation Save Marinette is a go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Alya to bits, truly I do, but the girl has a HARD time admitting she's wrong, and she's a loyal friend. Unfortunately being split between two loyalties and having to admit she's wrong means she wasn't pursuing things as hard as she needed to do. It's a lot easier to believe Chloe was trying to pull a long con then Lila was fooling her that long.
> 
> But now Alya knows for sure Lila is lying through her teeth and is ready to defend Marinette to her dying breath and Adrien had someone pushing him to do what he needs to, that poor passive boy.
> 
> And honestly, Chloe isn't so easily caught up in negative emotions around her like everyone else. She's pulled the their word versus my word con so many times, she knows how it goes and has the pull to keep the adults from just talking over her. Sometimes it pays to be an overbearing brat. And really, who else better to deal with an alpha bitch then another one?


	13. Secret of the double

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug, part 2

"Again."

"But he might be busy!"

"You want to help clear up this mess for both your friends, correct?"

"Y-yes, but-"

"And Prince Ali is considered kind, correct?"

"Oh, the absolute sweetest boy-!"

"Then he will understand your desire to help people you care for. You will call again. What's the total now?"

"T-thirteen?"

"We will call until it's twenty-one. It's divisible by seven, which is lucky."

"Um, isn't fourteen divisible by seven?"

"Four is extremely unlucky and considered the number of death. We will stop at twenty-one, so he'll understand the severity of the situation."

"You know, I knew she was ruthless, but I don't think I've ever seen Rose this focused," Chloe said, watching Kagami and Rose at a distance.

"She's gotten farther then you," Alya pointed out.

Chloe scoffed. "Jagged Stone is a hard guy to make do anything if you don't catch his interest. I skipped lunch and he wouldn't even talk to me. Jerk," Chloe said with a pout.

"I'm sure you can do it, Chloe," Adrien said.

"Oh, I am. I'm going to pick up Marinette and bring her. He'll meet her," Chloe said. "I figured I'd bring Marinette a progress report, how about you two?"

"The janitor had cleaned the lockers before I could get prints," Alya said with a sigh. "And I couldn't get anything solid from the answer sheet. Paper is difficult to get anything from. So Adrien and I have been collecting Lila's stories to see what we could disprove."

"Some things we might be able too, others are too vague," Adrien said.

"It's a start," Chloe said. "....how many in our class believe in Marinette now?"

"Alix, Kim, and Max. Nino, of course," Alya said. "Other people are less certain."

"If Chloe believes in Marinette, I do too," Sabrina chirped up.

"They don't want to think badly of their friend, one way or the other," Adrien said.

"That's annoying. But at least we have more people on our side," Chloe said. "Okay, I'm going now. I'll let her know what's up. Sabrina, head back to the Grand Paris and track down wherever Jagged is." She paused. "I mean, Sabrina, can you do that for me?"

Sabrina smiled. Still a bit confused by how often Chloe was making things requests lately, but at least she's no longer terrified by what it means. Its just a weird thing Chloe is doing now. "Of course, Chloe!"

"Thanks," Chloe said, the duo making the way out of the school.

"We're sure she hasn't been taken over by a doppleganger, right?" Alya whispered to Adrien.

Adrien just smiled. "Yeah, we're sure."

~~~

Chloe's phone buzzed as she stepped into the bakery. She was pulling out her phone when she was noticed by Sabine, Marinette and Tom busy with the baking.

"Chloe," Sabine said.

Chloe looked up.

"I wanted to thank you. I'm not sure why you did it, especially with your history with our daughter, but it was a very kind thing you did," she said, offering Chloe a kind smile.

Chloe was taken aback by those words. She didn't really expect any thanks. Helping Marinette was about helping keep Ladybug from being possessed and leading to the literal doom of Paris. And helping prove she was a good teammate as a result, that she deserved the Bee. She didn't really think about the other consequences of her actions.

"I...well...like I said, Queen Bee is a superheroine and it was an injustice!" Chloe said, straightening up, trying to look proud.

Sabine's smile widened. "You know, I think Queen Bee really does have the makings to be truly exceptional," she said.

Chloe froze. "I....that...." She opened and closed her mouth.

Sabine just had this look, something fond and hard for Chloe to read. "Please, feel free to pick out something to eat. On the house. We know you can pay, but anyone who helps our daughter deserves a special treat."

Chloe nodded numbly, moving over to the cookies, trying to get her head on straight. She doesn't even know why. Sabine was just saying the truth! Chloe was amazing and awesome! She deserved the praise.

"Here are some napkins to pick out what you like," Sabine said, handing over a few too many napkins. Which Chloe didn't mind. Her eyes felt misty for some reason. Probably all the flour in the air.

Either way, it gave her the chance to check her phone.

Her blood froze.

Her head snapped up, staring at Marinette. Marinette who is Ladybug. Marinette who is DEFINITELY NOT fighting Mayura.

"Dupain-Cheng!" Chloe shouted, rushing over to the counter, startling her. "I wanted to tell you what we found to prove your innocence, but Ladybug is fighting a peacock supervillain right now and if Chat isn't with her, he might be looking for me. You need to come to Grand Paris and I can tell you on the way!"

Marinette looked over, startled. "Ladybug is....fighting...?"

"Yep! Mayura. Ladybug is definitely fighting Mayura at the Arc de Triomphe," Chloe said, shifting between her feet. "We need to go."

"Papa, can I-" Marinette started.

Tom shook his head. "I'm sorry, Chloe, but I know my daughter. She needs a break from everything that happened this morning. Clear her head. You can come talk to her about it tomorrow," he said.

"But....but..." Marinette looked between Chloe and her father.

"I'm serious, Marinette. You get caught in a depressive spiral if you don't take a break," Tom said.

Marinette looked at Chloe, helpless.

Adrien wouldn't know. Adrien _wouldn't know._

"Ugh, fine. Sorry, Dupain-Cheng, but I can't keep Chat Noir waiting," she said. At least Marinette should know she was going to intercept.

Hopefully she could in time.

Chloe ran out the bakery and turned down the street, pulling out her phone as she ran. She dialed Adrien's phone, but it went immediately to voice mail. She tried a few more times with the same result. She texts him to call her back, but she's almost certain he's already transformed.

"Ugh, I need a taxi," she growled, looking around for any sign of transportation. How could she contact Chat Noir? There had to be-

Balcony. _Balcony._

She moved through her messages until she got to the unknown number and begins to make the calls. The phone is ringing, but of course that hyper focused romantic wasn't answering. She doesn't bother leaving a message, just redials.

"Why are there _no taxis._ " She was growling when movement catches her eyes. A delivery boy on a bike.

It's something.

"Hey! HEY YOU!" Chloe shouted, waving her arm. 

The boy brakes, looking back, confused.

"I'll pay you five hundred euros to take me to the Arc de Triomphe right now," Chloe said. It was almost her entire month's allowance, but it was _worth it._

The boy is surprised at the offer. Then frowns. "Aren't you....Chloe Bourgeois?" He asked.

"Oh good, you know me. Then you know I can pay you. Time is short, yes or no," she demanded.

He pulled out a bike helmet and held it out to her. "One express ride to the Arc de Triomphe," he said.

"Oh thank god," Chloe said, taking the helmet and getting on behind him. "Ride as fast as you can," she ordered and dialed again.

At least the boy doesn't argue. It's a shame she's meeting him now. He's kind of cute even if his clothes could do with a serious upgrade. But she had more important things to focus on.

She kept dialing.

By the eight time, Chat Noir finally answered.

"Chloe, I d-"

"It's not her!" Chloe shouted, causing the boy to swerve, but he gets his balance back again.

"....what?" Chat said over the line.

"It's not her," Chloe said. "I don't know who it is, but it's not her."

"....how?" Chat asked, sounding skeptical. 

Chloe hesitated.

"I don't have time, if she's really hurt-"

"Because I saw her," she said.

"Then why isn't she blowing up my phone?" 

"...because she doesn't have the phone right now."

"But if she's transformed-"

"She wasn't," Chloe said, looking at the boy. He shouldn't be able to hear Chat, but she had to watch her words.

There is a long pause.

"Do you...know who...?"

"Yes."

"...."

"We can talk about that later, but right now, it's not her."

"....shoot. Okay, okay, I need to go, Rena Rouge isn't gonna know, I'll figure this out," he said before hanging up.

Rena Rouge? She already had her Miraculous? Was this part of the preparations they needed to do?

Well, maybe she can get proof Rena Rouge definitely isn't Lila. Just to put a nail in that coffin.

"Am I still going?" The boy asked.

"Yes, I have an idiot to track down," Chloe said. "On the double, boy!"

"My name's Luka," he called back, and peddled faster.

Chloe keeps watching the news feed. Seeing Ladybug fighting Mayura, along with her evil cackling. It was so hamfisted, but she guessed that was normal for Akuma's, and no one really knew about Mayura.

It isn't Chat who gets there first. Oh, it looks like it because Chat Noir shows up on the feed, challenging Mayura head on, but it just results in Ladybug getting....hurt somehow. It's hard to tell, just that she collapses.

Which is when Rena appears from the opposite direction, rushing to Ladybug's side. Which seems to surprise Mayura enough for Rena to get Ladybug in her arms. And as Rena moves to get her away, Mayura tries to go after, only to be distracted by Chat Noir shouting Catacalysm and going at her.

Distracting her long enough for Rena to get out of view as the Chat Noirs illusion breaks upon impact with the peacock villain.

"Head South side," Chloe said.

"Got it," Luka said.

Chloe texts Chat that Rena Rouge has the fake Ladybug and she's gonna try and find them to warn her. Unfortunately by the time she's switched back to the feed, Chat Noir seems to have really showed up.

Damnit. Just. Ugh. WHAT IS THIS DAY.

"Where now?" Luka asked.

Chloe looked up. They were close to the Arc de Triomphe. If Mayura lost track of Rena, she had to keep low. She might still be able to catch up, but she couldn't bring this boy with her.

"Drop me off here. Come to the Grand Paris tomorrow for payment, ask the front desk for Chloe's payment for a ride," she said, hopping off the bike and tossing back the helmet, already running for the alleys. 

Ugh, this would be so much EASIER as Queen Bee.

"Ladybug, stop-!" 

But it seems luck is on her side after a minute as she hears a familiar voice and she sprints for it.

"Chat Noir needs me! He can't fight on his own," Ladybug protested, pushing weakly at Rena Rouge, trying to get away.

...well, time to see how much the villains want her and how stupid she's about to be.

"He doesn't have to," Chloe said.

The fake Ladybug and Rena Rouge look up at Chloe with surprise.

"I know I don't have a Miraculous, but I can get Ladybug out of sight. You can go help Chat Noir. There's no Akuma so far, so you two can get Mayura's Miraculous," Chloe said.

"Chloe, what if they're just hiding?" Rena Rouge asked.

"Then Chat is about to be outnumbered, isn't he? Just take the item and don't break it. I'll watch the news, we'll know if she needs to purify it," Chloe said.

"But....but I'm Chat Noir's partner, I can't just abandon him-!" Ladybug protested.

"If you're there, he's only going to do worse. You're Chat Noir's partner, you know how he gets when he's worried about you," Chloe said with a roll of her eyes.

Ladybug opened her mouth, then closed it again.

So it seemed like the fake was committed to her role.

"Chat Noir....I....I'm his partner, I can't let him fight alone," Ladybug said, looking a little loss. "Go. Help him, then bring him to me. There might be more enemies."

Rena Rouge nodded. "Got it, Ladybug," she said and was off.

Welp.

Time to see how stupid this was.

Chloe moved over to Fakebug, kneeling down to pull her arm over her shoulders. "Come on. There should be an open door somewhere, where we can hide out," she said, trying to keep her racing heart calm. But her best chance was to seem fooled. She couldn't explain why she wouldn't be.

Hopefully if this villain makes a break for it, Marinette will already be with the other two.

"I should be helping Chat Noir," Ladybug said, and she even sounds lost now.

"It sucks to not be able to help, doesn't it?" Chloe asked.

"It does," Ladybug agrees, stumbling along with her.

Chloe had to give her prompts to committing to being hurt. "Now you know how I feel. Everytime you pass up giving me my Bee Miraculous, I just have to watch helpless."

And she expects the Akuma to say something, anything to dig at her. To make her believe Ladybug would never, to make her more angry and bitter. For Hawk Moth to use this chance to manipulate her.

"You feel like this?" Ladyphony asked, looking concerned. "I'm sorry, this is a terrible feeling."

Chloe looked at Ladybug in confusion. "Y....yeah? It is?" She said. "Um. Are you okay?"

"I'm supposed to be at Chat's side. I'm his true partner, not Rena Rouge," Ladybug said.

And....

And this Ladybug doesn't have anything on her. Just the earrings and her suit.

Where is her Akumatized item? Why does she seem so lost?

Chloe tries another door and it opens. She pulls Ladybug inside, to storage for some kind of business it looks like. She helps Ladybug sit down.

"Maybe you should detransform? If you're hurt, maybe I can treat it?" Chloe asked.

"Detransform?" Ladybug asked, like the concept was foreign.

What....what was Chloe dealing with? This didn't seem to be an Akuma. Was this...was this a Sentimonster?

"...are you....really Ladybug?" She asked.

"Of course I am! I'm Ladybug, Chat Noir's true partner," Ladybug said firmly.

"No....no you're not," Chloe said.

"Yes, I am!" She insisted.

"Holy shit," Chloe said. It wasn't often she swore, but this....this was completely unexpected. This was a talking, thinking Sentimonster. Lost, it looks like, without being ordered around by Mayura, but she's pretty sure it just emphasized with her powerless feeling.

What the ever loving heck was she dealing with _now?_

"You said we'd watch the news. I need to know if they're doing all right," LadySentimonster said.

"Oh. Right, right, yeah," Chloe said, pulling out her phone and starting the feed. Rena Rouge and Chat Noir were fighting Mayura now. "See? They're doing fine!" She said.

"....yes. Yes, they are, but...." The spotted girl was staring at the news feed, looking conflicted. It was a stalemate between Mayura and the two heroes. Chloe is curious what the fake was going to want to do. She wondered if she could stop her if she tried to leave. She might since she seems to be following some hurt order.

"Wait, is that...that's a fake!" Fakeybug cried as Ladybug and the snake superhero suddenly showed up on the scene.

Did she THINK she was the real one?

Then, suddenly, she froze, head snapping up. "Yes, Mayura," she said, flatly, standing up.

"Whoa, hey, no!" Chloe protested, getting between her and the door.

"Move," Ladybug said.

"No, you're not lea-" Chloe started when suddenly she felt a wire wrapped around her neck.

There was a loud snap.

Then only darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)


	14. Secret of Chloe doesn't actually know this one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug, part 3, or Luka and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Luka, but he has the trauma center power.
> 
> Also very minor gore.

"Luka!" 

Luka looked up as Ladybug suddenly landed beside him. "Ladybug, you need me?"

Ladybug nodded. "I have a doppleganger. You need to make sure we're not fooled," she said.

"Got it," Luka said, transforming. It seems it was the right decision to hide out nearby.

Soon the two of them were heading to the Arc de Triomphe. "Start it now, in case we need to change our approach," Ladybug said.

Viperion nodded. "Second Chance," he said as he started the timer. Ladybug wrapped her arm around him and headed up to the roof of the monument.

Mayura's head snapped to them, eyes widening in panic. She gripped something tightly. "Come to me. Let nothing get in your way," she ordered.

Viperion wasn't sure what, watching as everyone else rushed Mayura. Waiting to see if he should get involved, if he might need to do something else. He's not sure what the order was about and that might be a problem.

"You really thought a fake me was going to get you far?" Ladybug demanded.

Mayura just growled in frustration, scrambling to get away from the heroes. She was making it hard to get a hold of her, and Rena Rouge's Miraculous was beeping. She'd need to leave soon and Viperion would have to get involved more than likely. He's watching Mayura's movements, looking for anything to take advantage of, and trying to keep an eye out for whatever was ordered.

Which wasn't hard to spot with how red it was.

"Mayura, I'm here!" The second Ladybug said.

Chat froze, head snapping to her, pupils suddenly thin slits. "What...what did you do?"

"I had to return to Mayura," the fake Ladybug said, blood dripping from her yo-yo.

"You....you-!" Chat stuttered.

"Oh god. Chloe," Rena Rouge said in horror.

Viperion rolled back time.

He grabbed Ladybug's hand, and pulled her to the other side. "We need to come up from over here. We need the item out of Mayura's hand."

"Wha-got it," Ladybug said, and pulling them up so they can get the jump on Mayura.

She manages to avoid them at the last second and she gives the order.

Viperion rolls back time.

He tries several different approaches. Each time, they're not quite able to get to Mayura in time. She's too much in the middle. He tries, but there's no good angle to see the top of the monument to track her movements. It would come down to a lot of trial and error to try and find a time where it'd be good for them to go up. 

He changes tactics.

He repeats what they did the first time, this time watching the fight. It repeats, the Sentimonster arrives. And the fight goes...poorly.

Rena Rouge is definitely thrown off now, and he's sure that's guilt he sees. She's horrified what she let happen, now that she realizes there's a fake. 

Chat Noir is even worse. He's going after Mayura with a rage he's never seen of the black cat hero. He's not even talking, there's just a feral growling.

Ladybug glanced back at him once, then seemed to realize what he was doing, and focused on the fray. She's doing the best out of the three, but there's also a desperation to her movements, and that's making it hard to track her versus the fake. He keeps having to look for the blood splatters...

Rena Rouge starts to time out and he rolls back.

He joins the fight, but if Ladybug was hard to track as an observer, it was harder in the fray. Combined with Rena's distracted hesitation and Chat Noir's fury, it's too chaotic.

Rena starts to time out and he rolls back.

He tries a few more times to end the fight with Mayura before the Sentimonster arrives, but the time frame is too short, he can't find the way to catch her.

He changes tactics again. Relying on ending the fight and using the Miraculous Cure won't work. There's no way he can counter the emotional reactions the heroes are having.

"Wait thirty seconds. Then get the item out of Mayura's hand as quick as possible," Viperion said, and he bolted in the direction he had seen the other Ladybug come from.

He repeats this several times, narrowing down the area where the other Ladybug comes from. Never before has he been more glad no one else remembers the Seconds Chances.

He'd hate for Chloe to remember what keeps happening to her, even if it all was to save her.

Finally, he finds it, a door the other Ladybug comes out of.

Now it was coming down to timing. He can't delay Ladybug too long, not when Rena Rouge was running out of time. It was the best chance to catch Mayura, without having to put anyone else in danger. It was a disturbing kind of irony. He was letting Chloe get...

Get hurt repeatedly so she wouldn't have to follow through on her dangerous plan.

Viperion gets the door open and he's just seconds too late. He sees the wire tighten around the girl's neck, a wire he's seen cut through steel and concrete in previous Akuma attacks.

Chloe hits the ground in two pieces, the Ladybug looking at him with a dead eyed look.

Viperion rolls back.

He hits his knees, unable to hold back the contents of his stomach.

Ladybug jumped back in shock. "Viperion?! What's wrong?"

He was shaking, breathing harshly. "Just....I was a few seconds too late," he said, looking up with a shaky smile. "Give me a minute. I have what I need."

Ladybug looked at him with concern. She glanced up towards the fight, before kneeling beside him, pulling him into a hug. "I'm sorry. Whatever you saw...."

"I'm going to prevent. I'll be fine," he said, though he doesn't resist the urge to lean into the comfort. There was always something about Ladybug that was oddly reassuring.

"I know. I trust you, Viperion," she said softly. "But you have a few minutes now."

Viperion nodded, and leans into the warmth, breathing deeply, calming his racing heart and roiling stomach.

Near the end of the time limit, he rolls back.

"Wait forty-three seconds. Then get the item out of Mayura's hand as quick as possible," Viperion said to Ladybug and he was gone before she could even try to ask what he meant. 

He leapt over the buildings, dashing across the rooftops, the place he knew where Chloe and the fake Ladybug would be.

He drops down.

"No, you're n-" Chloe was saying, arms spread wide to deny the other leaving.

Viperion leapt forward, catching the yo-yo as it swung past behind Chloe's head. "Chloe, get down," Viperion ordered.

"Wha-" Chloe started, head snapping back. 

"Down!" Viperion ordered as he turned, tugging hard on the yo-yo and flinging Ladybug towards the outer wall of the building, beside the door. Right now, he needed Chloe out of her way.

Chloe squeaked, hitting the floor just in time. "Where did you come from?!" She said, bewildered.

"Ladybug got me," Viperion said, focusing on the fake Ladybug, who was already getting up from hitting the wall. "Stay out of the way."

Viperion leapt forward. He saved Chloe. Now he had to keep this Ladybug away from the fight.

~~~

Ladybug wasn't sure what Viperion was trying to accomplish, but she trusted Luka. If he felt he had to be elsewhere, then he had to be elsewhere.

She counted down the seconds, trying to not be antsy. If he gave such precise seconds, it must be for a reason. But as soon as she counted forty-three, she let loose her yo-yo.

Mayura's head snapped to her, eyes widening in panic. She gripped something tightly. "Come to me. Let nothing get in your way," she ordered.

"You really thought a fake me was going to get you far?" Ladybug demanded, and she was already charging forward. "We need the Amok item! She has it!" She called to the other two.

Maybe this is what Viperion is doing. Her double isn't here. She's not even sure where it'd be. Viperion must be distracting them after that order, it made the most sense. Maybe it really turned the tide against them. It made enough sense, Rena Rouge was beeping, her time was limited.

It looked like they'd need to hurry. "Lucky Charm!" Ladybug called, catching a fork out of the air. She looked around as Rena and Chat Noir kept up the attack. "There! Cover your ears!" She called, leaping to the glass of a skylight, sliding down it and letting the unholy screech of metal on glass.

The sound causes a dodging Mayura to trip up, reaching to cover her ears and losing her grip on the Amok item. 

She swings her yo-yo forward to catch the item since her hearing sensitive partners were covering their ears, but the item hadn't stopped moving.

And before she can catch it, it falls down a storm drain.

"No!" Mayura cried.

"Keep on her!" Ladybug called. Without Mayura in control of the Amok, the Sentimonster should be fairly useless. At worst, it'd follow it's last order. Wander around like the Lolli monster, but it wouldn't be focused.

She hoped Viperion would be able to handle the Sentimonster long enough for them to catch Mayura. Especially as she looked more desperate now.

But then Rena Rouge's Miraculous beeped insistently. "Ladybug-!" She started.

"We'll get her. Recharge quickly!" Ladybug ordered.

They could keep her here for just a few minutes, Ladybug was sure.

~~~

The storage room was a mess from Viperion and the Sentibug's fight. Chloe had done her best to stay out of the way of the fight between the snake user and a very determined fake Ladybug.

Viperion was doing his best to keep the fake Ladybug away from Chloe, but he knew it'd be bad to let her get back to the fight and it'd be harder to keep up outside. He just had to hope Ladybug had the Amok item soon.

He felt the wire tie around his legs and he braces himself to be swung away again when suddenly the Sentimonster just.

Stops.

Her hands slump down to her sides, the yo-yo wire going slack, and she just looks. Lost.

Viperion was still tense, waiting to see what she'd do.

"...Ladybug?" Chloe said quietly.

She looked at Chloe.

"Chloe, don't-" Viperion started.

Chloe raised her hand. "I got this," she said, looking at Ladybug. "Ladybug, who are you?"

"I'm Chat Noir's true partner," she said.

"And...what does that mean?" Chloe asked.

"It means....it means...." She looked down. "I...don't know."

It's then Viperion gets it. "Mayura doesn't have the Amok item anymore," he said. But they hadn't broken it yet?

"Is there an item? Wow, how derivative," Chloe said with a roll of her eyes. She looked at the Ladybug again. "...you...wanted to help Chat Noir before, right?" She asked.

Ladybug nodded. "I'm his partner. I should be by his side. And hurt, I think. And I have to take his Miraculous," she said, starting to look determined.

"Partners don't take partners Miraculous," Chloe said.

Ladybug looked confused again. "They don't?"

"No. Partners help protect others Miraculous," she said.

"Oh. Did I...misunderstand?" She said, looking down with a thoughtful frown. "She said I was the true partner first. And that is....who I am. So who I am is important than what to do. So if partners don't take, I shouldn't take, right?"

"Yes! Yes, that's right," Chloe said.

Viperion was, honestly, rather shocked at what was going on. First was Chloe. He never quite accounted the dissonance there was, trying so hard to save from someone dying, someone who he knows has died repeatedly, and seeing her so calm and composed. He knows it makes sense. She technically had never died, she has no reason to treat this like any other supervillain situation. Though he supposed this calmness spoke how used to it she was.

Then there was the other factor of the fake Ladybug. From how Ladybug and Chat Noir described it, it sounded like Sentimonsters were supposed to be just giant attack dogs. But watching Chloe talk to the Sentibug, it seemed like she was actually thinking. It didn't even seem fake.

He could even imagine it, what kind of tune the girl would have. Something soft and airy, with a few sharp notes, building something stronger...

"She's alive," Viperion said.

"Yeah. Yeah, I think....I think she is," Chloe said, laughing a bit manically. "Oh my god, what even is today?" A sentiment Viperion could agree with.

Suddenly Viperion's lyre rang, causing all three of them to jump. He quickly answered the communicator.

"Viperion, are you okay?" Ladybug asked. "Is Chloe okay, Rena Rouge says she was with the Sentimonster."

"I'm okay and so's Chloe. Did you capture Mayura?" Luka asked.

"No. Hawk Moth showed up. They got away. Can you go back?" Ladybug asked.

Viperion hesitated. He absolutely couldn't let Chloe die, that compromised both Chat and Rena too much to deal with Mayura and the Sentimonster. It would be a disaster with Hawk Moth, especially with how soon Rena was going to time out. If he saved Chloe and let the Sentimonster get to the fight, even without the Chloe distraction, Rena would still be gone almost as soon as Viperion and Sentibug arrived and it'd be three on three with the Ladybug problem. His being in the fray makes it hard to track her, but with three enemies, two who should know his ability, he won't be allowed to be a passive observer. He doesn't have the experience to deal with Hawk Moth or Mayura in a direct fight and it made sense for one of them to go for him and that put his Miraculous at risk. Losing the Second Chance and maybe his Miraculous and that wasn't a power they could give the enemy. The Sentimonster is supposed to be a chaos factor between Ladybug and Chat Noir, she'll be directed at them, leaving one of the Supervillains on him.

"The timing doesn't work," Luka said. "Not with my lack of experience in active combat."

Ladybug frowned. "How many times have you gone back already?"

"This is three hundred and seven," Viperion said.

Ladybug paused. Then she nodded. "I understand," she said. "We're looking for the Amok item now. Do you know where the Sentimonster is?"

"....well, here's the thing," Viperion said.

"Is that the fake?" Sentibug asked.

Ladybug froze. "....is that the Sentimonster?"

"Yes. It seems like she's sentient," Viperion said.

"She hates being powerless to help Chat Noir!" Chloe called. "It's weird!"

"I am not weird!" Sentibug protested.

"You might want to send Rena Rouge to us. I'm not sure how she's react to either you or Chat Noir. She has an order to take the Miraculous, but she also thinks she's Chat Noir's true partner," Viperion said.

"I'm trying to robot logic her into being a sensible person," Chloe said, having approached Viperion.

Ladybug was staring at the screen in pure befuddlement. "....okay. That sounds good, she's fresh. Viperion, once she gets there, you go recharge. Chat and I will look for the item, it went down one of the storm drains."

"Got it, Ladybug," Viperion said, hanging up with a sigh. It's been a very long five minutes. He almost doesn't notice Chloe and Sentibug were whispering to each other. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Oh, no. We were just talking about how it's a shame there's no good pictures of you. You're pretty cute," Chloe said, the Sentibug nodding in agreement.

A very, VERY long five minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Rip-rock actually made me think of this by suggesting Luka may have seen something of Chloe thanks to Second Chance, something for him to have 'unexplained' trust in her. But after writing about the horrors of time travel, my brain decided to be absolutely terrible about it. After all, either Chloe is trying to stop an injured Ladybug from getting hurt, or she was standing in front of a supervillain without powers.
> 
> Which I'm glad for because I have been wanting to do SOMETHING with Sentibug. I knew how I wanted to handle the first part of Ladybug, to have people actually supporting Marinette and her not ending up expelled. (Suspended still sucks, but schools like to suspend both parties even when there's a clear aggressor.) But I wasn't sure how to handle Sentibug because Sentibug was another thing canon had made me mad about.
> 
> You don't just say something is 'sentient' and act like their death is a tragedy without DOING anything with it. If there's not someone on the main cast whose a Sentimonster, I'll be really mad because if that's not at least foreshadowing, it's such a WTF moment. We should have had a prolonged exposure to Sentibug so we could see she's alive, that she's real, instead of literally her getting orders and like a minute of freedom.
> 
> Mayura didn't want to give up the game by having Sentibug act not injured after Rena ran off, hoping she could still save her scheme, so she hesitated to call her back when dealing with Chat Noir and was too distracted when Rena Rouge showed up to see where she was and if that'd ruin the scheme. But when Ladybug (and sometimes Viperion) showed up, she knew she was over her head and her priority shifted to avoid capture. But that delay let Chloe see the Sentibug is able to empathize with her and also to get that distance from a fight and so now Sentibug still exists and at this point Mayura will assume Ladybug will just purify the Amok when she finds it.
> 
> So now Sentibug is alive and how that's going to end.....well, we'll see.


	15. Secret of Vedalia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug, final.

"Hamsters?" 

"There's cute compilation videos with upbeat and loud music."

"Yeah, but why hamsters?"

"Ladybug said she liked them once. It's working, isn't it?"

Chat Noir looked at the Sentibug who was looking rather delighted at Chloe's phone, earbuds in her ears. "She is pretty enthralled."

"Now that you're sitting next to her, anyway. And those are the ear buds I use to not listen to stupidity, she'll have a hard time tracking anything of our conversation, just make sure she keeps watching that playlist," Chloe said.

And there they were, four superheroes, one civilian, and a Sentimonster. They had apparently wondered into a small theater that forgotten lock the back, probably. Rena was looking through some of their things to see if there was anything to cover up the door. They weren't certain the lock was forgotten, and left open so they could get it, but it felt wrong to just leave it open and obvious. Viperion was sitting on a step ladder, strumming his lyre idly, and has overall been rather quiet.

Ladybug and Chat Noir had managed to find the Amok and join up with the other three. Where they had found Chloe had thoroughly distracted the Sentimonster with videos, from fashion to seeing past fights to now hamsters.

After seeing how downright innocent the Sentimonster was acting, Ladybug had given her the Amok.

She followed it up by attaching herself to Chat's side, because she was his partner. So they were sitting against the wall, Ladybug on the opposite side, keeping an eye on the Sentimonster. Which lead to right now, with them all trying to decide what to do with her right now.

"It would be evil, right? To destroy her Amok," Rena Rouge said. "I mean, she wanted me to help Chat and she's just.....like this."

"Yeah, what is the deal with that?" Chloe demanded. "I thought I was intercepting an Akuma at first, until she started going all logic error on me, I thought Sentimonsters were just like kaiju attack dogs?"

Ladybug was staring at Sentibug. "I think....it might be because how the Peacock operates," she said. "The Butterfly and the Peacock are very similar when you first describe them, they can give others power, they don't need to be present, they have long range empathy to find people, but the Butterfly is Change. What it's supposed to do is give people the power to change their situation. It's why most Akumatized people are in situations where they feel powerless to change the situation that's hurt them. Can't change a test you failed, or a contest you lost, or a nightmare you woke up from."

"Or when a brat throws her power to screw you over," Rena commented idly.

"I haven't done that in months, thank you very much," Chloe shot back icily.

"Just saying," Rena said with a sing song voice.

"Anyway!" Ladybug said pointedly. "The Butterfly is about giving people power to change. It's why repeated Akumatized people have mostly been the same even if their reason for being upset is different. Unless the person has gone through a change, that's still their empowered self. Like Chloe was Antibug because she wanted to be like me, and Queen Wasp because she wanted to be Queen Bee."

"I didn't want to be you," Chloe protested.

"Chloe, you have literally tried to claim to be me during an interview," Ladybug said.

"....well, okay, maybe I wanted to be like you a little, itty, bitty bit," Chloe said with a pout.

"Kagami Tsurugi did the same thing. When she was Riposte, she was still new in Paris and more focused on reputation. Oni-chan came about when she was putting more value in personal relationships," Chat said. 

"The Butterfly maintains a direct connection because a good user is supposed to help their Champion work through whatever challenge they're trying to overcome, encourage that change. The Peacock, however, is emotion. And heavy handed control of emotions don't work. What the Peacock is supposed to grant is a creature that will do what the person really wants. That becomes what the Sentimonster is," Ladybug said. "That's why the originator of the emotion gets the Amok. Their Sentimonster on it's own will default to defense and fulfilling what they emotionally want. But sometimes what we want isn't exactly what we need."

"Like if you want to catch a bad guy, your emotions might want them dead, but you know it's better to put them in jail," Rena said.

"Exactly," Ladybug said.

"Ooooh," Chloe said, perking up in realization. "Mayura wanted someone who could fool Chat Noir."

"And even if kitty had a bad habit of following his heart more than his brain," Ladybug started.

"Hey!" Chat protested and she just raised an eyebrow and he slumped down, ears folding back. "....fair."

"Even then, he wouldn't fall for a half baked copy. She had to be close enough, then throw in her being injured, and....other things to emotionally compromise him to doubt me," Ladybug said.

"And because you're better at controlling your emotions, it was better to go for me, right?" Chat asked, sulking.

Ladybug smiled sympathetically. "I am used to you being hurt more often, kitty," she said sadly.

Chat looked up at that, surprised, then guilty. "....sorry."

"You're good at keeping me safe," she said gently and Chat looks up at her with a little gratitude and a little sadness. "So I had less emotional things to exploit to throw me off, I could have easily gone 'tell me one thing only Chat would know' and then we'd have the double," Ladybug said.

"So Mayura ends up with a Sentimonster that's ninety percent what she thinks Ladybug is because her emotions wanted to be able to fool Chat Noir," Chloe said, already planning on bugging Adrien later.

"And since she's the Peacock user, she could have her emotions ready to get exactly that. With the Amok, she could enforce the orders of getting the Miraculous, but until the opportunity came up, Sentibug here would have been acting like me even without direct control," Ladybug said.

Sentibug looked up. "Did you want something?" She asked. Rather loudly, causing Chat to wince.

"No, no, go back to the video! That one is the dramatic hamster, it's great!" Chat said loudly, directing her attention to the phone again.

"Does that mean she's....not sentient?" Rena asked.

"I think that's a question of what is sentience," Viperion finally interjected. Rena looked at her and made a go on gesture. "Well, think about it. She's capable of thinking. She is able to make conclusions and decisions with vague orders. Chloe said she empathized with her."

Chloe shrugged. "I was treating her like Ladybug because I thought it might have been Lila and Hawk Moth might have been watching. So I was complaining that it sucks to be on the sidelines just because she won't give me the Bee and it's as frustrating as her bieng hurt. I was expecting her to go on about how I shouldn't have it and blah, blah, blah, and instead she was acting sad about it and apologizing. It was weird."

"And we can see she can at least act emotional. She wants to be by Chat's side. And when I was watching the fights, she was focused more on the rest of us. She didn't avoid him when he was in the way, but she also never pursued him even when he'd be the easier target," Viperion said. "With the Amok, she can make her own decisions. What more is there to sentience?"

"She is kind of a philosophical nightmare," Rena said. "But...I mean, what happens when Mayura makes another Amok?"

There was a sudden, oppressive silence at that. Because as crazy as it was to think a Sentimonster as a real girl, having her just vanish at random was pretty bad to ponder.

"...it depends," Ladybug said and all eyes were on her again. "The Butterfly is guidance through Change, they need that connection. The Peacock, however, is supposed to be more hands off. After the deal is made, they can't get anything else. They don't see, they don't hear, nothing. It's the person who owns the Amok who gets that with their Sentimonster, they're supposed to be the rational mind. But as a trade off for having even less influence than the Butterfly, they can maintain more than one Amok. How many depends on the experience, power, and time. A Peacock User who makes several Amok in quick succession without any of that energy being released is going to suffer consequences. The longer breaks they take, the more they can make. So if Mayura tries to make one tomorrow, Sentibug may vanish, but if she doesn't for a while, she will be fine. As long as Mayura doesn't deliberately undo the magic."

"Wait, if she can maintain more than one Amok, why hasn't she?" Chloe asked. "Give her and Hawk Moth a horde."

"The range. An Amok and a Sentimonster can only be so far apart. For them to use their own Sentimonsters, they'd need to come out of hiding. And they can't just give them to people having a bad day because the person would have to want to cause chaos. Giving one to an Akumatized person is the only way for them to have an Amok that they can have directed for their own ends without having to risk themselves," Ladybug said.

"Wait, is that why you were so certain Feast had the staff and wasn't in....well, where he came from?" Chat said, just catching himself.

"Actually, I only found that out afterwards," Ladybug said with a bemused grin as Chat gave her an unimpressed look.

"You got us eaten on a guess," Chat said and sighed. "Your mind is a wild place, my Lady."

"Wait, is THAT how you beat that Pacman Akuma?" Rena asked.

"Yes. Made me take the tongue head on to," Chat said with a shudder. "It felt pawsitively terrible."

"I'm pretty sure I have a video of you licking yourself," Rena said teasingly.

"And my tongue doesn't feel like sticky silly puddy!"

"Oh my god, can we not talk about Chat Noir licking himself?" Chloe groaned. "So, what? As long as Mayura doesn't make something for like the next week, Fakeybug is fine?" She asked.

"As long as Mayura doesn't unmake her, yes. And she'd need to know she's still alive for that," Ladybug said. "Which brings us to an important question. What DO we do with her?"

There was a long silence as they all looked at Sentibug as she hummed along with a cheery beat.

"My...roommates would be fairly welcoming to a new one," Viperion said.

Ladybug looked at him, seeming to consider it a moment, then shook her head.

"The problem is, while Mayura can't see through her eyes or anything like that, if she got close to Sentibug, she'd be able to sense she's a Sentimonster," Ladybug said.

"Which means anyone she's living with would be under immediate suspicion of having a Miraculous," Rena finished.

Ladybug nodded. "So even if we could find a way to explain her existence to anyone we might live with, if Mayura ever happened to be close to our homes, the person is an immediate suspect. Luckily it's not a long range, they'd have to be right outside our homes and even that's if she's paying attention."

"But since we don't know who Mayura is, we can't discount the possibility," Chat said. "Which means..."

And slowly all eyes turned to Chloe.

Chloe looked between them all. "....no."

"Chloe, you're our only option," Ladybug said.

"No! No, are you crazy? Look at her!" Chloe said, gesturing frantically at Sentibug. "She's all....innocent! And pure! And easily manipulated and you want her to live with ME? I know, I'm amazing, but I can barely deal with children without making them cry and you want me to be responsible for her?!"

"I mean....you don't have to be solely responsible," Chat said. "Kagami is in the same boat, she just doesn't have the building full of rooms and staff she can bully, but she could help with the dealing with her part," he added, just smiling in the face of Chloe's death glare.

"....I can deal with that girl for schemes to destroy evil liars. But something like that would mean being around each other like....all the time!" Chloe said, throwing up her hands.

"Come on, Chloe, she's not that bad," Chat said.

"Oh my god, I am going to skin you alive."

"Well, there is someone else," Ladybug interrupted. "I mean, Chat is right. Kagami is a good person and she's practical, but you're right. Between the two of you, that might be pretty bad for Sentibug. But Adrien is pretty trustworthy."

Frankly Chloe wanted to smack Chat for how he perked up at that, looking at Ladybug with intense interest.

"Adrien?" Chloe said, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"I'm serious. You two are friends, right? It wouldn't be weird that he's seen around you, especially since I think he's friends with Kagami too. I've actually tried to recruit him once, but it....didn't work out," Ladybug said, glancing at Viperion.

"Adrien is a pretty good guy," Viperion said.

"That Agreste boy did seem pretty humble for a rich pretty boy," Rena added.

"You guys are telling me to recruit Kagami and Adrien to basically raise a five foot tall toddler with me," Chloe said.

"Come ooooon, Chlo. Can you resist these eyes?" Chat Noir asked, pulling an earbud out of Sentibug's ear. "Can you give Chloe kitten eyes, Buggy?"

Sentibug looked up in confusion, before shrugging and giving Chloe the biggest kitten eyes she could manage. Complete with a light tearing up even as Chat Noir puts the earbud back in her ear.

"...." Chloe just stared back, stubbornly scowling. But the longer she maintained eye contact, the harder it was. Ugh. UGH. Did Marinette always have these big eyes? How does a stupid domino mask make them even worse? "UGH! FINE! But I swear, you all OWE ME. If I want to throw a big party for my birthday and invite all the heroes to it, I expect RSVPS and follow through barring life and death disasters!" She said with a pout, slumping back. "And I want a selfie with the cute snake boy."

Viperion choked.

"You don't mind, do you Viperion?" Ladybug asked.

"I....guess not?" Viperion said. "As long as it's just a selfie."

"Ha! Alya will be green with jealousy. The one good picture of him and it'll just be on my personal devices," Chloe said with a small, self satisfied smirk.

"We'll need to disguise her," Rena said. "Everyone is going to notice Ladybug at the hotel. Can she even take that stuff off?"

Chat hummed, moving a hand to her neck. Sentibug giggled at the touch, looking up with a quirked eyebrow and an amused smile that was very much Ladybug. "Just checking something," he said, making sure to mouth the words, and tries to hook his claw under the edge of the suit. To no avail. "Doesn't seem like it."

"We'll need to get covering clothes. At least she should be immune to overheating. Some Sentimonsters can take falling into Lava," Ladybug said. "Turtle neck, long pants, gloves. The mask..." Ladybug tapped her chin.

"She has sensitive eyes and needs those glasses that cover like half of your face," Chloe said. "Say she's sensitive to a lot of things, to explain why she never takes off her glasses."

"That can work," Ladybug said.

"So that's the plan. Sentibug will go live with Chloe and wear a lot of covering clothes?" Chat asked.

"For the moment," Ladybug said. "Until we're sure she's not going to disappear over the next few days." Because they had to keep that in mind. They had no control of that.

"Then..." Chat said, pulling out the earbuds. "Buggy, we need to decide a name for you."

Sentibug looked up in confusion. "I had a name? I'm Ladybug?"

"You can't use that name. It'd put you in danger," Ladybug said.

Sentibug frowned. "But I'm Ladybug."

"You can't-" Ladybug started.

"Think of it like a nickname," Chat said. "I give my partners nicknames all the time. And this one is to protect your identity." 

Sentibug paused at that. "It...is important to protect my identity," she said with a nod.

"So, we need a nickname," Chat said, looking at her thoughtfully.

"What about Vedalia?" Chloe asked. "Its an Australian Ladybug."

"How do you know that?" Rena Rouge asked.

Chat snickered. "The power of a fangirl. What do you think? Vedalia? Veda?"

Sentibug considered. "I could work with Vedalia. And you can call me Veda," she said, smiling at Chat. 

Chat grinned. "It suits you. Now, you know as my partner, your safety is very important to me."

"Of course!" Sentibug, or Vedalia said, and took his hand in hers. "When I couldn't go fight by your side, I felt so terrible. You must feel the same way, right?"

Chat nodded. "That's right," he said, squeezing her hand. "That's why I want you to be safe. The thing is, if you walk around like this, you'll get a lot of attention. And you might be targetted for it. This version of you has to be hidden. We're going to get you a disguise so you can hide it. Do you understand?"

"Of course I do," Vedalia said. "It's pretty obvious when you lay it out like that," she said, considering. She looked at Ladybug, then she reached up, pulling out her hair ties and getting up. "There has to be a disguise around here somewhere."

Chat for his part, had paused at the sight. "Oh....oh, wow, My Lady, you really should wear your hair down sometimes," he said as he watched Vedalia look through some of the hanging costumes.

"You do look really cute," Chloe said distractedly.

"Yeah," Viperion and Rena Rouge agreed, both also staring.

Ladybug herself was blushing up a storm. "I-it's just hair!" She said.

"Yeah, but pigtails is like kicking butt hair, that's likes relaxed and free hair," Rena said. "Totally different effect."

"C-can we not do this right now?" Ladybug said, putting her hands over her face.

"Why is everything either Edwardian, Victorian, or giant cloaks?!" Vedalia protested.

"Just grab a cloak," Chloe said, getting up, blushing herself as she finally realixes she complimented Marinette. To her face. "You're going to come with me, I'll get you some good outfits," she said.

Vedalia sighed. "I guess it can't be helped," she said with a pout.

"Come here, cutie," Chloe said, having retrieved her phone and ear buds and moving towards Viperion. Viperion got off the step ladder, moving over to Chloe. "Oh wow, you are tall," she said with an appreciative hum. She wrapped an arm around him, holding up the camera and giving it a well practiced smile, Viperion giving a rather genuine, if smaller smile of his own as she snapped the pick. "Finally. I was wondering if any of you heroes knew how to take a real selfie," she said, patting his shoulder. 

"Thanks," Viperion said. 

"One more thing," Chat Noir said, Vedalia looking over at him. "You can't join any fights, not for a while."

"Why not? I'm supposed to fight beside you!" Vedalia protested.

"Because if Mayura realizes you're around, she'll make you disappear," Ladybug said.

Vedalia froze at that. "....oh....oh, I guess...that's true..." She said, looking down.

"There's also the danger of not knowing your power. Sentimonsters are weaker when the Peacock isn't transformed. You're still strong, but you're not going to be as strong as you were when Mayura is around. You'll need to train to be used to your abilities when they're weaker and prepared if that changes," Ladybug said.

"I have a lot of people to watch my back. So let us watch yours," Chat Noir said.

Vedalia was still staring at the ground for several long moments. Then she looked up at Ladybug. "You promise you'll keep him safe?"

Ladybug nodded. "I promise."

Vedalia took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay. I'll be safe. For now. Don't think I'm not going to help out someday," she said.

"I wouldn't dare doubt it," Chat Noir said with a fond smile.

"Okay, okay. This is all very sweet and cheesy and just a little weird, but can we go now? I have to put her up in my hotel and then I have to track down a classmate so I can get Jagged Stone to do something to save her from Liar McLiar face. I am super busy!" Chloe said.

"I can take her and Vedalia home. It's the Grand Paris, right?" Viperion asked. Ladybug looked over at Viperion, looking at him questioningly. "I have a pretty late curfew. It takes a while for me to be really missed." He paused. "In a non-bad way."

"I am pretty busy myself," Rena said, finally pulling out a large plank of wood. "And I found a cover for the door!"

"Me too," Chat said.

"Then we'll call it for now," Ladybug said. "And Chloe?"

Chloe looked over.

"Thank you."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Hey, what are future superheroines for?"

Ladybug didn't say anything, but she didn't give her a guilt stricken look. So she's still thinking about it. But she IS still thinking about it.

Chloe will take it.

"Come on, Vedalia, time for your new home," Chloe said, helping the girl pull on a cloak that wouldn't get too in the way of her yo-yo. No need for two Ladybug sightings at the same time.

Viperion held open the door for them, letting Rena cover it up. "Is a bridal carry all right?"

"Yes, yes, let's go. And don't go too fast, it's a miracle my hair survived a helmet," Chloe said, and paused. She pulled out her phone. "Right, that boy will probably come to collect," she muttered, making a reminder. "Okay, let's go."

Honestly, Viperion had totally forgotten about that money offer. He's gonna need to decide what to do about that. He probably shouldn't take the money since it was for superheroing, but it might be a good idea for her to meet Luka properly. If she's going to keep doing things like this, he'd rather be in the know.

He really doesn't want what happened today to happen when he wasn't on a Second Chance.

He is careful on the way to the Grand Paris, in part to not jostle Chloe too much, and too much sure Vedalia was keeping up. Ladybug was right, she wasn't making the journey quite as effortless as Ladybug would. Probably from the lack of power.

Soon enough though, he was landing on the balcony, gently letting Chloe down, who moves to the glass doors and checks her hair. "Looks like you didn't mess it up too much. Good," she said and paused. "Thanks for the ride?"

"You're welcome," Viperion said. "And Chloe?"

She looked back at him.

"Please. Try to be more careful in the future," he said. "That was a close call today."

Chloe paused at that. She looked at Vedalia, who was looking around the balcony with interest. She looked at Viperion. "I'm harboring a magical fugitive because Mayura wouldn't hesitate for a second to banish her even though she's probably sentient," she said. "Hawk Moth has been terrorizing my life ever since he showed up, used my strong personality as a way to churn out Akuma's. He's made it impossible for me to live safely. It's about time I give him hell for it."

"Even though you know you're going to be alone with supervillains?" Viperion asked.

Chloe froze. "....who said I knew?" She asked.

"You said you thought you were intercepting an Akuma," Viperion said. And he's pretty sure she was talking to one of the heroes on the bike ride. It'd be a heck of a coincidence for her to talk about fakes when there's a fake Ladybug. "You knew the Ladybug Rena Rouge had wasn't the real deal."

Chloe looked away, crossing her arms. "They tell you my plan?"

"They did."

"If she had been an Akuma, if I revealed I knew, she would have attacked Rena Rouge, who may not have believed me and been taken off guard, and me. My best bet was she was either committed to the bit, or Hawk Moth would be disinclined to let serious harm happen to me. There was a chance she'd just knock me out and bolt, but at least it bought Ladybug more time and she would have probably still pretended to be hurt," Chloe said.

"Some would say that's stupid," Viperion said. "You could have died."

Chloe shrugged. "I trust Ladybug to win," she said.

Viperion paused at that. "I see," he said, studying her.

Chloe scowled at him, "What?"

"You're just...very interesting, Chloe Bourgeois," Viperion said. 

"Of course. I'm one of the most interesting people you'll ever meet," Chloe said, primping her hair.

Viperion chuckled. "Still. Try to be a little more mindful. There are people who'd like to help you. Myself included," he said.

Chloe paused. "Um. Well....I'll keep it in mind," she said, looking a bit flustered.

"See you around, Chloe," he said, moving to the edge of the roof.

"...yeah. See you," Chloe said, waving as he left.

She looked to the side, seeing Vedalia by some of her potted plants. Her eyes widened in horror. "Veda! Don't eat that!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be Shenanigans. When three emotionally stunted in some way teens try to raise a human-looking, but also very much not human 14 year old toddler whose incredibly clever, and knows like only five things. DND version of low intelligence, high wisdom is a go.
> 
> Am I shipping Luka and Chloe? Lil bit. Will that be an actual thing in story canon? Dunno.
> 
> Also everyone has a crush on Ladybug. E V E R Y O N E. Give Veda time, I'm sure she will too.


	16. Intermission: Hurt feelings.

"I can't believe he actually agreed," Marinette said, looking a little bewildered as she crossed the lobby with Chloe.

"Of course he agreed. The man absolutely adores you. Seriously, you need to learn how to use connections," Chloe said.

"But isn't this a little abusive of it?" Marinette asked, looking concerned.

"Look at it this way. She promises Jagged Stone will be somewhere, he doesn't show up, she happened to promise it to one of the famous or famous adjacent people in our school, suddenly Jagged looks bad in front of people in his circle. You're saving him from one of her eventual cons," Chloe said.

"It still feels a little much to as-LUKA!" Marinette squawked, having suddenly looked up to see the blue haired boy.

Luka smiled. "Hey Marinette," he said. He hadn't planned to see her, and he's not quite sure why she's here. If he recalled right, didn't Marinette fight Chloe a lot? Still, it's never bad to see her, and it had pushed away any doubts of approaching Chloe. If Marinette was here, that was probably a good sign, right?

"Hi," Marinette said, smiling even as her face got a little red. "What are you doing here? A delivery?"

"I was actually here to see Chloe," Luka said.

"You know Chloe?" Marinette asked.

"You know the delivery boy?" Chloe asked, looking between them with a suspicious look.

"He's Juleka's brother and he's part of Kitty Section," Marinette said.

Chloe looked at Luka, tilting her head. "I guess that explains the pretty and garbage style."

"Chloe! You're being rude!" Marinette protested, glaring at her.

"He literally has holes in his clothes!" Chloe said, gesturing at his jeans.

"It's a style choice! And Juleka has excellent style too!" Marinette shot back.

"Styles is dressing for the occasion, she has way too much fishnet and lace for school and her gloves are uneven lengths," Chloe insisted.

"Her outfits are still good for the goth casual style." Marinette looked at Luka. "I'm so sorry about her."

"It's fine. I'm not going to change my style and at least Chloe said Juleka is pretty," Luka said.

"Wha-I-I did not!" Chloe said, going bright red.

Luka just smiled at her. 

Chloe just got redder and looked away, crossing her arms. "Ugh."

"So you were here to see Chloe?" Marinette asked.

"About the money, right? It's at the front desk," Chloe said with a dismissive way. "All five hundred, I remembered."

"Five hundred?!" Marinette squeaked. "Why is Chloe paying you five hundred euros?!"

"I gave her a ride," Luka said.

"What ride costs five hundred euros?" Marinette said.

"It sounded like she was trying to help a friend," Luka said with a shrug.

"Vedalia was about to fall for a scam artist of an art dealer," Chloe said. "She was gonna lose out a lot more than five hundred euros."

"Oh....oh, I see," Marinette said. She frowned, looking at Luka in confusion. "So you came for the money?"

"Honestly, I had thought about leaving it since she seemed in distress, but once I remembered that she was Juleka's classmate, I was wondering if we could do something a little different," Luka said.

Chloe looked at him, the suspicion growing on her face. "....like what?" She asked, far more guarded.

"Interest free loan."

"What?" Chloe said, surprised.

"My whole family has been Akumatized," Luka said and he can see a slight wince on Chloe's face. Since she'd been at fault for one? "And our houseboat has been attacked twice. And as much as I love my sister, if she gets Akumatized again, I really don't want to be her. I could take the clothes and being a girl, but that is pretty weird, even for Akuma stuff," he said with a small chuckle.

Marinette giggled. "That would be pretty weird," she said. "And those shoes are kind of hard to walk in."

"Yeah. And I know, civilians shouldn't fight an Akuma, but I'd at least like to be at least a little more prepared and maybe get myself and my friends to safety. I'd been looking at self defense classes, but it'd take a while to get all the money I'd need for that and for my share of Kitty Section's expenses. So, instead of just giving me five hundred euros, an interest free loan that I can pay you back after Kitty Section is covered," Luka said. "I'd be fine writing up something up."

Marinette considers Chloe a moment and considering she doesn't say anything makes me think Juleka's complaints tapering off about Chloe wasn't a coincidence. Since Bob Roth, Marinette has been very suspicious on signing anything for the band without reading it through.

"Sounds complicated," Chloe said. Then she paused, looking him over thoughtfully. "But I guess not the worst thing. But if you say you're gonna pay it back, I am going to make sure you pay it back eventually," she said. She glanced at Marinette. "But being reasonable about it. Sabrina is good at that kind of stuff."

"So it's a deal?" Luka asked, offering his hand.

Chloe looked down at his hand, hesitating a moment, before taking it and shaking it. "It's a deal," she said and paused. "As long as you send me what classes you're going to. You're right. It's really annoying being cornered by Akuma," she said.

"And that's definitely the only reason you're doing it," Marinette said flatly.

"If I'm going to have to work out, I might as well have something nice to look at," Chloe said with a shrug.

"You're pretty blunt, aren't you?" Luka asked.

"Unlike some people, I know the only way to get what I want is to go for it," she said. "Being all indecisive risks losing it."

"Not insulting their sense of style also helps," Luka said, offering Marinette a wink.

"...you could at least get clothes without holes," she said with a sniff.

"Probably not," Luka said. "Is it all right if I get your number from Marinette?"

"Sure, sure," Chloe said. "Let me know what you need. Dupain-Cheng, be here tomorrow morning so Jagged can take you out to breakfast before his chat with our class. I need to go check on Vedalia, I can only have her watch so much She-Ra in one sitting."

"I got it, Chloe. See you tomorrow," Marinette said.

Chloe nodded. "And I'll see you later," she said with a flirty wink to Luka before heading for the elevator.

Luka waved with an amused smile. "Do you want a ride, Marinette?"

"If you don't mind," Marinette said. "It's...been a long day."

"No problem," Luka said, leading her outside.

"You handled her pretty well," Marinette commented.

"To be honest, I was expecting a lot worse. But it sounded like she was helping you?" Luka asked.

"....yeah. Yeah, she was," Marinette said. "There was....an incident at school."

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Luka asked, holding out his spare helmet to her.

Marinette was silent a few moments, thinking, before taking the helmet. "Can we stop by the park by my house?" She asked.

Luka nodded, and they began their trip back to the bakery. Cycling through the evening street, Marinette holding onto Luka's back. It's a peaceful ride and Luka finds that it's....almost a relief. He knows Marinette is bothered by something, but she was trusting him to help her feel better. It's a different kind of weight, helping her then helping Ladybug. It means Marinette trusts him and even though it is pretty amazing to be trusted by a superhero, it's far different to be trusted by the girl he has feelings for.

It helps soothe his other frayed nerves from the day's events.

"Are you sure you want to listen?" Marinette asked from behind him.

"If you want to talk? Of course," Luka said. "I'm always here for you, Marinette."

Marinette didn't say anything, just held on a bit tighter.

Soon enough they were at the park, Luka locking up his bike by the gate and walking further in with Marinette. No one was around, this late. It was too small for the traditional romantic walk, but it provided a sense of privacy.

They took a seat at a bench and for a while, Marinette was quiet. Luka passed the time, playing a soft tune on his guitar. Not her song, just something to help soothe her troubled mind and he can see her relaxing beside him.

As she begins to talk, he tapers off the music as she tells him what happened. About Lila, about how she lied to everyone, about how Lila hated Marinette because she didn't believe her lies and had threatened her. How Adrien knowing helped for a little while, but Lila kept lying, and everyone thought she was jealous and thought she was just being mean to Lila.

Luka had heard a little bit about Lila from Juleka and Rose. More Rose from how much she gushed. Juleka has been impressed at first, but less sure overtime, though she said she might just be jealous from how much Rose gushed. She had been like that about Prince Ali, she just had to work through those feelings, though now Luka wonders if Juleka had just picked up more than she realized. 

But Luka knew Marinette. Marinette didn't lie, and he's seen just how much Adrien makes her feelings go all over the place. Even if Luka was inclined to believe she was lying, he's sure that there's no way her feelings would be consistent on Lila without there being another, non-Adrien reason.

He is rather disappointed at Adrien's actions though, but Adrien has also missed enough friend get togethers because of his father that Luka is pretty sure Adrien hates confrontation. Luka could understand that, he hates it too. Standing up for other people was far easier, but he could see how it's hard. Hopefully Adrien's time with the Snake Miraculous has made it a little easier.

Marinette continues her story about today. About the test sheet, about the push, about the necklace. How she was nearly expelled, how everyone had _looked_ at her, until Chloe suddenly interrupted. How she started to tear apart her claims, and Adrien, Kagami, Alya, and even Alix were speaking up for her, pointing out problems, causing doubt and the tears had started then.

"I thought I was going to be alone. I thought I w-was going to be expelled, that she'd really make everyone hate me, that....that everything I'd done meant...meant nothing because of a few pretty lies," Marinette said, shaking as Luka wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. "And it still took _Chloe_ for everyone to actually pay attention and I....I don't know....it just...just..."

"It hurt," Luka said softly. "It still hurts."

Marinette nodded. "It took them having the truth shoved into their face to realize what happened. They....they had no faith in _me._ But now Alya, Adrien, Chloe, and Kagami are trying to...to get all the evidence and...I shouldn't be mad, Lila probably won't be able to lie her way out of it, it'll be done."

"...why shouldn't you be mad?" Luka asked.

"What?" Marinette asked.

"Everyone hurt you. Even though they know you, know that you're a girl whose always willing to help, who works hard at everything she does, an amazing, talented girl who cares about people," Luka said, and maybe he likes to think the red in Marinette's face isn't just from her tears. At least she looks less upset. "It's only normal for you to be mad."

"But...it's....it's hard being mad," Marinette said.

"Then don't be mad. But what you feel shouldn't depend on what you 'should' and 'shouldn't' do. It depends on what will be best for you," Luka said.

Marinette was silent at that, looking down at the ground. "....they could at least apologize," she murmured.

"Then hopefully they realize how badly they messed up and do," Luka said. "What happened after that?"

"Red butterflies swarmed the room and nearly Akumatized everyone."

"Of course."

"Yeah."

Luka frowned. "But there wasn't an army of Akuma?" He said.

"That was the weird thing. The butterflies got a lot of people, people were starting to change, but then it just all...stopped. All the butterflies turned white and flew away. After that, Principal Damocles suspended Lila and me until he could get her parents so we could sort through all this," Marinette said. "We can make up work and it won't be held against us. Mama and papa said he was in a bad place with our situation and the Akuma's, and getting more time was the best he could do."

"It's not the worst punishment, I guess," Luka said. Though he's really gonna have to bring this up to Ladybug. Maybe see what Chloe saw because that can't be normal, especially when followed up with Vedalia. "It's still unfair to you."

"Yeah. Yeah, it is," Marinette said with a sigh.

"...but it does give time to catch up on your projects?" Luka said.

Marinette smiled slightly. "A silver lining, huh?"

"That and breakfast with Jagged Stone. It's still wild that you know him," Luka said.

Marinette laughed. "Who knew making him a pair of sunglasses would charm him so much?"

"I could see it. You are really talented," Luka said. Now he's certain the red isn't just from her crying.

"Luka, stop. You're embarrassing me," Marinette said.

"I can't help the truth, Marinette," Luka said.

Marinette shoved him a bit and he laughed. She was smiling though, wiping at her eyes. "Thanks, Luka. I needed this."

"Anytime, Marinette," Luka said.

Marinette kissed his cheek before standing up. "At least let me treat you to a few cookies," she said.

"If you insist," he said, following her to the bakery, Marinette leading him through the back entrance to her home since the business had closed for the day.

"Mama, papa, I'm home," Marinette called as she moved to the back of the bakery, moving to where the leftover cookies were, ready to be taken for Marinette's personal stash or packaged for discounted prices the next day.

"Welcome home, sweetie! Alya is up in your room," Sabine called.

"Okay!" Marinette called, looking uncertain.

"Do you want me to stay?" Luka asked.

Marinette stared up the stairs before shaking her head. "No. This is between me and Alya," she said, holding out the small box of cookies to Luka. "And I'm much more ready to talk to her," she added with a grateful smile.

Luka nodded. "I understand. Text me that you're okay later?" He asked. "And Chloe's number."

"Okay. See you later, Luka. And thank you," she said.

~~~

Alya. Was an idiot. The biggest idiot, an absolute fool. The worst best friend in the world.

"I was selected to be the fox! I use illusions! I should have been able to see through a few lies!" Alya hissed, pacing Marinette's room.

"You're good at getting people to look where you want, a very important Fox trait," Trixx said. "It's far trickier to notice when someone else is doing it to you."

"I let her convince me that Marinette was being mean because of Adrien! Chloe was right. If that was the case, Marinette wouldn't have become friends with Kagami at all, Adrien has actually gone on a date with her," Alya said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"You said you only moved to Paris this year?" Trixx asked.

"Yeah, so?" 

"So did LIla," Trixx said. "You know how hard it is to be new. It only makes sense you didn't want to make it hard for someone else."

"I still should have known better. Jagged Stone has a crocodile. I've heard enough tales about Fang that it should have been weird when she said kitten. And all those lower pollution plans, she never shared details, didn't even give a ballpark. And the stupid napkin! I've been hit by worse things all the time thanks to the twins!" Alya said, still berating herself.

Trixx huffed and then flew in front of her face to get her to stop walking. "You think you were stupid to not see through it, correct?"

"Well, obviously!"

"That's incorrect."

Alya started at that. "What...? What else could it be?!"

"Something far harder to overcome," Trixx said. "An inability to change your mind."

"Change...my mind?"

Trixx nodded. "It's not a bad thing, necessarily, to be stubborn. Especially when you're a Fox. But lies are tricky things. For a good Fox, it's key that they have a strong sense of justice and good. But with it comes the risk of someone who has a difficult time changing their mind. And sadly, that can mean the Fox starts to lie to themselves. Twisting and bending the truth to make it make sense, so they can believe that what they thought is right. Deceit is a slippery slope. You must keep justice and good in your heart. But you also have to keep your mind open to what is the truth. Not what you want to be the truth. You wanted Lila to be an amazing person. You wanted to believe you were helping someone having a hard time. You wanted to believe Marinette was not someone cruel, so you found the character flaw you accepted to explain it."

"And hurt her. A lot," Alya said quietly.

Trixx nodded. "Hold onto the truth that you want to do right. But allow yourself the chance to see what is right instead of what you want. And if you're unsure on something, take time and find the proof you need, and always keep in mind how what you say might affect others."

Alya nodded. "You're.....you're right," she said. "This whole day is proof of that."

Trixx smiled. "See, you're already learning!"

"Yeah, just took her claiming to be me," Alya muttered.

Trixx scoffed. "Please, her lies are so inelegent. She's made such a tangled mess that the moment one thread goes, it all falls apart. She doesn't even keep to the golden rule."

"What's that?" Alya asked.

"Tell as much truth as possible. You only change what you absolutely must to do what you want," Trixx said with a wink. "Those are the strongest lies." Then his ears perked up and he flitted away to hide in Alya's hair a few moments before the door opened.

"Alya," Marinette said.

"Hey girl," Alya said with a small, uncertain smile. Which faded as she looked at Marinette. "Have you been crying?" She asked, terrified her friend was in distress all alone.

"I was with Luka. He....let me vent," Marinette said, closing the door. "I'm okay now."

"Oh. Well, that was nice of him," Alya said. Marinette should have been able to vent to her, but of course not if it was about today. Not after how bad she was.

"Do you have my work?" Marinette asked.

"Oh! Oh, yeah, right here," Alya said, picking up her bookbag and pulling out a small stack of papers.

Marinette took them, glancing over them before putting them on her desk. "Thank you."

There was silence in the room, almost oppressive. Alya hoped Marinette would say something. Yell at her. Tell her it was okay. Throw her out for being the worst friend ever.

"I'm sorry," Alya said. "I....I've been terrible to you. I didn't believe you about Lila for so long and just letting you....you suffer with her lying to everyone. I should have believed you, or at least looked more into things, or asked Lila for evidence, or asked Ladybug if she knew her, or a million others things that I should have done and I didn't, and god, Marinette, I'm so sorry, I know you hate liars, if you said it wasn't about Adrien, I should have believed you, especially since you never sto-"

Alya stopped as Marinette pulled her into a tight hug and her breath hitched. "God, girl, I'm so, so sorry," she said, voice shaking as hugged her back, just as tight.

"I've missed you," Marinette said. "Being able to talk to you."

"You shouldn't have had to," Alya muttered. "Miss me, I mean."

"I know. And I am hurt, and kind of mad, but....I wouldn't be who I am today, if not for you, Alya," Marinette said. "If I hadn't met you, Lila would have chewed me up and spit me out in a week. You helped me believe in myself, helped me become more confident, and want good to triumph. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have even been able to be mad."

Alya felt like it was hard to breathe, the knot in her throat was so thick. She had known Marinette was more easily bullied before she showed up, the context clues were there, but she couldn't imagine having had that much of an impact on Marinette. It made her feel worse and love Marinette all the more because she let such a wonderful girl suffer and it touched her to know she had such an impact on her.

"G-good. You be mad girl, you deserve it," Alya choked out, burying her face in Marinette's shoulder. "I'm gonna make it up to you. I'll find proof Lila is a liar, even if I have to hunt down every celebrity she's claimed to know and drag her to a doctor and pay for all those tests myself."

"I know," Marinette said, stroking Alya's hair, trying to soothe the other girl. "I knew if I could just get you to believe me, you'd help me prove it all."

Alya nodded against her shoulder. "I am. I'm sorry I doubted you. I won't, never again. You say someone is a liar, I'll believe you, even if she's making out with Adrien right in front of us."

Marinette laughed. "Okay, I think it might be a bit fair to not trust whatever I say then."

Alya giggled. "Yeah, you would probably be in a spiral. But if you said it an hour later, totally believe you."

"It's a deal then," Marinette said.

And for a while, the two girls just hugged each other, glad to finally have their best friend back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Complex emotions, complex emotions everywhere.
> 
> Because even if things were quite as terrible as in canon for Marinette, she still got a pretty raw deal for a while. And Alya really needed to apologize, but I can also see Marinette forgiving her easily. Beyond just her forgiving too easily for her own good.
> 
> Without a doubt, Alya is one of these most influential people on Marinette embracing her role as Ladybug. She basically led Marinette to the edge of the cliff, with Chat Noir at the tower being the final shove to let her fly. Which really just makes it all the sadder how Alya has been refusing to believe Marinette in canon.


	17. Secret of Names

Kagami was confused as she met with Adrien in the lobby of The Grand Paris. "Wasn't that Marinette with Jagged Stone?" She asked, gesturing back towards the front door. She had just seen Marinette get into a limo with the rock star before making her way inside.

"Probably. Jagged Stone wanted to take her on a 'rock and roll evening' after hearing about her suspension," Adrien said, leading Kagami to the elevator.

"Then shouldn't we reschedule this planning session?" Kagami asked, still following Adrien.

"Well....we're not going to be planning for that," Adrien said as he pressed the floor number. "At least not entirely. It might be involved."

Kagami frowned. Then she eyed Adrien with suspicion. "Has Chloe asked you to help her get me for...whatever she has been bothering me about?"

"Chloe's been bothering you about something?" Adrien asked, looking surprised.

"Yes. For weeks now."

"Oh." He frowned and finally shook his head. "No. This is a new thing," he said.

"Adrien, I know she's your friend, but I have little reason to believe her helping Marinette was out of the goodness of her heart." It was far more likely Chloe had a score to settle with Lila. "I'd rather not deal with her for the sake of not interfering with your relationship with her," Kagami said with a frustrated sigh.

"No, I know, and I appreciate it. But Chloe isn't the only one asking you to do this. And not me, someone else."

"Who else could she know that I'd care to listen to?" Kagami asked.

"You'll see," Adrien said.

Kagami was not at all reassured by this answer. But it was Adrien asking for her patience and he was very hard to say no to. At the very least, she needed to know WHAT she was saying no to.

But of all the things she imagined to see once walking through the door of Chloe's room, it wasn't Ladybug and Chloe screaming while watching She-Ra.

"Don't pull the lever!"

"You're going to destroy everything!"

"Spoilers!" Adrien protested, only to have both girls throw pillows at him before he ended up closing the door to block the attack.

There was several beats of near silence, muffled raised voices coming through the door.

"I thought Ladybug being her best friend was a delusion," Kagami said finally.

"Yeah, it is," Adrien said.

"Then why is she watching a cartoon in her room?"

"It's a bit of a story, that," Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Then the door opened. "Of course you arrived before we could watch the final episode," Chloe said with a huff. "Come on, come on. Sooner this is done, sooner we can get to the final season. And you need to catch up, Adrikins!"

"I've been busy!" Adrien protested even as he moved inside.

Kagami numbly followed, staring as Chloe picked up the pillows and brought them back to the couch like it was normal for Ladybug to just be sitting there.

Ladybug who was staring at Kagami with curious eyes, but....there was something there...

"Is this Kagami?" She asked.

Or wasn't something there. There was no recognition.

"Yes? We've....met?" Kagami said with uncertainty.

"You haven't, actually," Chloe said, handing the remote to the spot clad girl. The spot clad girl who was also wearing an Effifel Tower keychain necklace.

"Yes, I have. I was Ryuko," Kagami said. "As you know."

"Yep, but this isn't Ladybug," Chloe said.

Kagami opened her mouth. Then closed it again. How does one even respond to that?

"Just let her tell you what's up," Adrien said, guiding Kagami to the bedroom with him and Chloe.

And so, Kagami listened as apparently-not-Ladybug watched Ladyblog posts in the other room. Chloe explained what happened the day before, how Ladybug's kwami apparently found her and told her how she was couldn't get away to transform, about the fake. Chloe said she didn't know the reason, but she understood the urgency and gone to warn Chat. About finding Rena with this Ladybug, this Vedalia, and leading her away. On realizing how the Sentimonster was responding like a real person with feelings. About the fight with Viperion.

About how lost she was when she was free from Mayura's control, and how she responded to what Chloe called 'robot logic.'

About how everyone decided the only place Vedalia could go was with Chloe.

"And since you're in the same boat as me, you're safe to be around her, and Ladybug trusts you to help, and since Adrien was apparently a candidate who didn't work out, he's trusted, and is close enough to me, he won't be targeted as being a possible user, you both are approved to help me deal with this," Chloe said.

"And Ladybug....trusted you with this?" Kagami asked.

Chloe shrugged her shoulders. "She doesn't have a lot of choice, does she? You're the only other known person who deals with Miraculous business where it wouldn't be weird you were asked to help, but your mother is a control freak."

Kagami glared. "My mother is not a control freak. Honor is important and that takes maintenance," she said.

"Uh huh, sure," Chloe said with a scoff. "Would you be able to house a magical girl without raising suspicion with her?" At Kagami's silence, Chloe shrugged. "I can. So, I am."

"Because Ladybug has no choice," Kagami said. "It's not exactly reassuring."

"Excuse you, I've been trying to do more for weeks now!" Chloe insisted. "That's what I've been trying to talk to you about!"

"What could you possibly think I'd want to do with you?" Kagami demanded.

"Help save Paris? Stop psychopaths who keep using people?" Chloe shot back.

"Girls-" Adrien tried to interrupt.

"I'm surprised you would protest people using others. It's something you do often," Kagami continued.

"I can't help people want to do things for me!"

"You mean people you coerced!"

"Like you would know what a proper human interaction is, you ice queen!"

"And you're to be trusted with a questionably naive girl with superpowers? What is Ladybug thinking?"

"I've done plenty to earn her trust! I've been helping for weeks!"

"All so you could gain praise instead of taking pride in your own talents!"

"I have plenty of talent-!"

_"-o me, Chloe just clearly demonstrated there's nothing exceptional about her-"_

The volume had pitched sharply from the TV, followed by a thud, and then cut off sharply. Kagami glanced back, seeing Ladybug half on the floor besides the couch, holding the remote awkwardly, seemingly having fallen off when dealing with the device.

She glanced back at Chloe, face blank. Drained of the anger and heat, just staring at a distant wall. Then at Adrien who was looking at her with concern.

"Chloe, did you really have a MIraculous?" Vedalia asked, pushing herself back onto the couch, looking at her questionably.

"I'm going to talk to Jean Paul about your clothes," Chloe said, brushing past Kagami and Adrien, heading for the door.

Kagami had known about the first incident of Queen Bee. It had been on the News, of course she knew about it, but she had never paid much attention to the coverage. Her friendship had still been very new with Adrien, she hadn't even pondered getting to know his friends. She hadn't seen a need to concern herself with any Akuma business when she had only been transformed once and never been caught in an attack that wasn't on the whole city. It had only been after she had found herself around Adrien and his friends and more Akuma's that she had paid more attention.

She had never watched any of the footage. Got nothing more than Chloe found a Miraculous Ladybug lost and almost caused a subway to crash trying to play hero.

Then Ladybug recruited her again to deal with her father and an army. Understandable, it was a tough situation with little option.

Vedalia was looking at the door and then at Adrien. "Did I say something?"

"The Bee Miraculous is a....complicated subject," Adrien said, moving over to Vedalia. "Chloe....Chloe didn't do well as a hero. This time," he said, taking the remote, hitting play again. Showing Chat Noir and Ladybug both offering a pleading Chloe comfort. Her returning the Miraculous and the odd thank you. "You see, her mother offered someone Chloe....isn't fond of a great opprtunity and she got jealous. She wanted to impress her mother and got impatient to prove herself as a hero. So she decided to make a situation."

"Creating a problem to solve isn't the way to impress someone," Kagami said. It was irresponsible. Reprehensible, really. Why was Adrien willing to give her so much of a chance?

"I'm not sure a woman like that could be impressed," Vedalia said. "...that's her mother?"

"Yeah. And there's not much," Adrien said.

"....why does she need to impress her mother?" Vedalia asked.

"To get her approval," Adrien said.

"To bring honor to her name," Kagami said.

Vedalia looked between the two. "But why did Chloe think she needed risk lives to get that much from her?"

That much. Making it sound so small.

It wasn't small, it wasn't....wasn't...

Why DID Chloe risk lives to try and get it?

"Okay, so we're going to try all of these," Chloe said, walking inside, her butler right behind her, carrying a stack of boxes. "Check on that order for the glasses Jean Marc, it was supposed to be overnight shipping."

"Chloe, why is he in here?" Kagami said. She was seriously letting her butler see Miraculous business?!

"Hm? Jean Luc? Because I need to say Vedalia is related to someone to explain why she's here all the time," Chloe said.

"Mademoiselle said it was to help Ladybug and Chat Noir," the butler said. Jean....Chloe's already used three different other names. "Even if I'm confused as to why."

"I just need you to say she's your niece, Jean Michelle. We can handle the rest," Chloe said.

"If you insist, Mademoiselle," he said. "Will there be anything else?"

"Chocolate please," Chloe said, turning off the television. "Come on, Vedalia, we have to make sure this is fitted right," she said, leading her to her room.

Kagami, however, was watching the butler leave. She looked to Adrien, who seemed content to just follow Chloe and Vedalia and....of course. Of course he wouldn't see the problem.

Well, if this was a problem for Ladybug, then she had to do something. So she followed him.

He doesn't seem to pay her any mind, if he even notices her. It's not until they're in the kitchen and she sees they're alone that she speaks.

"You do understand the severity of the situation, don't you?" Kagami asked coolly.

The Butler, Jean-whatever-his-name-is, looks up, calm and collected. "But of course. Mademoiselle has always taken being a superheroine very seriously."

"This isn't Chloe's attempts at attention. This is an innocent person's life. That only a few people Ladybug was trusting to know about," Kagami said.

He pauses at that, considering her a few moments. "Ah. You think Mademoiselle is being too irresponsible with the secret."

"She told someone whose name she doesn't know about it and she couldn't even keep her own identity," Kagami shot back.

He smiled at that, but it wasn't a real smile. It was....it was....sad? Was that it? It was always so hard for her to tell. But she's seen it on Adrien's face when his father has denied him something.

"But she does, Mademoiselle. It's why she manages to never say it despite all her variations," he said.

"She trusts someone she disrespects?" Kagami said, even less than impressed.

"Did you know that News feed was the first time in fourteen years Madame Bourgeois said Chloe's name right on the first try?"

That takes Kagami back. "....what?"

"Madame Bourgeois has always had trouble remembering Mademoiselle's name, even as an infant. Mademoiselle loved to copy her mother, so there was a phase where she would often call everyone the wrong name. It was only after Adrien said it upset him when they were about...seven that she stopped doing it with new friends, but she kept it up with me, but I am also the only employee who she tries to use a name with," he said as he set out chocolate on a plate.

Kagami could only find herself staring at that. He said it in such a nonchalant, calm way, almost like it was a cute childhood memory. A little quirk of personality and not...not a mother not remembering her daughter's name. Kagami could understand bringing honor. On being talented and someone to be proud of. She could understand having to meet expectations.

But while she dreaded her mother's disappointment and feared her anger, she never doubted her mother would at least acknowledge her enough to remember her name.

She wondered if he knew that it wasn't right. If that was why his smile wasn't real.

"Mademoiselle understands the importance of this task. It's why she asked for my help. I have a lot of power amongst the employees here, but while they will talk behind the Bourgeois backs and start rumors, they will trust my word. If I say she is my niece, then she is my niece," he said. "And I will always act in the best interest of Mademoiselle."

"Then why tell me...." Kagami trailed off. Did he not realize after all?

"As I said, I do what is in the best interest of Mademoiselle," he said. "And she does not trust easily, especially those who have gotten Monsieur Adrien's attention. Now if you'll excuse me, she requested chocolate."

Kagami stepped out of his way, watching him go as she found herself thinking over all she knew about Chloe. And perhaps now she could understand why it was she clung to Adrien so.

Adrien was good at making the loneliness not feel so bad.

~~~

"Ugh, everything looks so severe," Chloe complained.

"I don't know. Some seemed kind of...hipster?" Adrien offered.

"To have the glasses necessary to cover her face, she will always appear distant while covered up. It takes a lot of openness to overcome that barrier," Kagami said.

"....how do you know that? Your mother isn't exactly open," Chloe said.

"We've gone to dinners for charities to do with the blind," Kagami said with a hard look.

Chloe raised her hands. "Right, of course,"she said with a huff.

"Some of these outfits are kind of cute. I like some of turtleneck and skirt combo's. Can we use brighter colors?" Vedalia asked.

"Not too many bright ones. We want some discretion," Adrien said.

Vedalia sighed. "Right, right," she said with a pout.

"Maybe in a few weeks. When they're less likely to think about you being around," Adrien added.

Vedalia nodded. "Okay," she said, sorting through the clothes that fit.

"How much do you remember about how society works?" Kagami asked curiously.

Vedalia hummed, tilting her head. "I know about manners. I know about work and school. I know reputation is important."

"It's hard to figure out what Vedalia doesn't know until we trip over it," Chloe said with a sigh. "Like she'll try to eat aphids sometimes."

"The Miraculous has side effects with use. It's common for longterm Users to gain some traits of their animal," Vedalia said.

"And sometimes Vedalia will know things about the Miraculous which might be true," Chloe said, throwing up her hands.

"...does this mean those videos of Chat Noir acting like a cat may not be him joking around?" Kagami said in surprise, Adrien choking on air.

"Might be," Chloe said, watching Kagami lightly thwack Adriens' back to help him get his breath back.

"I'm unsure if that's more or less odd," Kagami said. "Are you okay Adrien?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Adrien said, ducking his head in embarrassment.

Chloe rolled her eyes.

It's been an interesting experience, watching this. Kagami has never really seen Chloe around Adrien without her hanging on him, trying to get between them spending time together. And seeing her with Vedalia is...different.

Right now, there was no terrible flirting and hanging on. Instead there was a lot of back and forth, Chloe snarking a lot at Adrien's 'nicer' forms of saying an outfit was terrible and Adrien far too politely correcting her when she's trying to find a compliment that Kagami recognized as him being playful. It was the first time she's seen them where she could truly believe they were childhood friends.

Of course Adrien is kind to Vedalia, if a bit distant. Like he's uncomfortable somehow, though she's not quite sure why. Maybe he was trying to separate her from Ladybug? Kagami knows he's a fan of the spotted hero in particular as most are. Though Kagami personally liked Chat Noir more. She could respect Ladybug, of course, but there as something very charming about Chat Noir's antics as long as they didn't interfere with their goal, and so far that only seemed to happen once or twice.

Chloe and Vedalia though...

Chloe constantly asked for Vedalia's opinion, at least if the outfit wasn't immediately rejected. They talked about what worked and what didn't. Kagami was learning more about clothes now then she thinks she has after months of friendship with Adrien. Vedalia seemed able to keep up in regards to fashion at least. Kagami had to wonder what did and did not effect what she knew. But Chloe, while bluntly honest, wasn't snide or rude to Vedalia.

Sometimes to Kagami when she thought a comment on the clothes were 'ridiculous,' though she stopped after a glare from Adrien.

And Vedalia seemed to really pay attention to what Chloe said and took it to heart. Not blindly, she had her own opinions, but there was no obvious dismissal.

Chloe almost seemed nice, if very brusque. And she used Vedalia's name.

"Vedalia, let's try with these boots. I think they'll work with most of these outfits," Chloe said.

"Why not the heels?" Vedalia asked.

"Because there'll probably be a day you want to save people and not even take off your clothes, Vedalia, and it takes practice to run in heels."

A lot.

"They looked cute though," Vedalia said.

"Then we'll practice, but for now, flats, Vedalia."

"How exactly would we work about....helping Vedalia?" Kagami asked.

"I think the idea is it's different opinions," Adrien said.

"We don't need another Chloe. I'm enough amazingness on my own," Chloe said.

"There's also some hard conversations Chloe's not good at," Adrien said and Chloe scoffed.

"And you think I would....help?" Kagami asked.

"Chat Noir trusts you, doesn't he?" Vedalia asked.

Kagami paused. "I suppose so. Though it was Ladybug who selected me."

"Hmm," Vedalia hummed. "There is that. But the fact was, you were trusted by superheroes. That must mean you're a good person."

Kagami paused. She had never really pondered if she was 'good' or not. "I suppose so."

"And it's not as if you have to teach me everything. I know what the birds and the bees are and I believe that's a hard conversation?" Vedalia asked and the three teens just awkwardly looked away. "And it's not as if I can't make judgement calls. I don't accept everything I'm told blindly. Whatever flaw you might be afraid of that might 'hurt' me, it won't be so easy to do it once."

"I suppose so," Kagami said. "You've given this a lot of thought."

Vedalia hummed again. "It was....hard to think when Mayura had my Amok. I had commands and I followed them. It was a little easier when no one had it, but it was still like a fog. With it, it's easier for me to decide what....what I want. What that means. Some things are harder, but I'm someone who adapts and understands situations quickly. I'm missing some things, but knowing more people will help. You three, Jean, and the other Miraculous Users, I think it's enough that I'll be okay," she said.

"You're very optimistic," Kagami commented.

"I'm a superhero. I have to be," Vedalia said with a bright smile.

"You know, I think Ladybug might be more cynical than you," Chloe said. "She has quite the temper."

"Then I'm different," Vedalia said with a shrug.

Chloe smiled a bit. "Okay, so maybe this is a good look. The sweater has a nice vine pattern...."

The rest of the evening past like that, finding good outfits for Vedalia with questions of what Vedalia did and did not understand about society, and talks of how to organize outside exposure. Vedalia would probably attend fencing competitions in the future. If Chloe was ever out of town, then one of them would regularly check on Vedalia. If there was ever an Akuma attack, priority was to get her away.

And in the future, all four of them would hang out a lot more.

Kagami wasn't sure how she felt about it, not quite yet.

But she supposed if Chloe would help Marinette and would help Vedalia, she could at least give her a second chance.

Probably just in time too. Her mother was invited to her parents anniversary that weekend. An event that sounded mostly dreadful save for Adrien and the chance to speak to Clara Nightingale to help with Lila if her mother hadn't shown up before that following Wednesday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Audrey is a trash person and when one is worse than the supervillain parent, you're really in a bad way. It was a real OOF moment when I realized the one time Audrey doesn't stumble over Chloe's name pre-Marinette interference was to insult her on live television...
> 
> Also I think it says something that Chloe 'mother never remembers her name' Bourgeois only plays name guessing names with the Butler who acts more like a parent says something.
> 
> Kagami is Highly Dubious on Chloe and that's fair, but she's also bad at recognizing what a bad thing harsh mothers are. She will learn. All the children will learn.
> 
> (Also I may just make a side story of the Life and Times of Vedalia Jean-Something because little snippets would help to flesh her out and could just bog down this.)


	18. Secret of the Devil's Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is also another story in the Queen of Secrets series.
> 
> Mostly to flesh out Vedalia, but sometimes it's fluff things that Vedalia will probably be pulled into because the Miraculous kids just kind of have a kid now.

Chloe hadn't planned to tell Marinette that her butler knew about Vedalia quite yet, but now she was pretty sure it was going to happen as she spotted the trio heading for the kitchen .She was able to sneak away with her parents bickering, trying to get to Marinette before she entered-

But was moments too late.

"-lia, she's a niece for the head butler, we've met a few times as kids," Adrien said to Marinette, all smiles as he gestures to Vedalia, dressed in a kitchen uniform, plus gloves and glasses. 

"The staff has been working all day alongside the caterers. My uncle approved when I offered to take care of drinks," Vedalia said, smiling at Marinette, though Chloe could see the tell tale tilt of her head she usually gets when she isn't sure what to make of something.

"Niece of the...head butler...?" Marinette said in confusion.

"....my butler," Chloe said, putting on her best 'well, this is just inconvenient face.' Better than letting the others wonder at the grimace she wants to give as Marinette turns her gaze on her, quirking an eyebrow pointedly. "It's a family thing. For the best, really, my parents are likely to argue for the next twenty minutes at this rate," she said with a huff. "It's ridiculous, utterly ridiculous."

"Is it normal to argue that much?" Vedalia asked.

Chloe is sure she means all couples. "Yes, that's their normal," she said. 

Vedalia hummed, and slowly nodded.

"Anyway, we should put away these trays," Adrien said. "Where to, Marinette?"

"Oh! Right, let's see...." She said, looking around to perform the task her parents asked of her.

"Do not feel rushed, Marinette," Kagami said, tossing a ladle to Vedalia. "I'm curious to see how this 'old friend' of Adrien does in a mock fight," she said with a playful wink.

Vedalia started a moment and then grinned, and started dueling with Kagami.

Well, Chloe might be in trouble, but at least Vedalia is having fun. She rolled her eyes, moving over to Marinette even as Adrien moved to act as 'referee' for the fight.

"We're going to need to talk later," Marinette said in a lowered voice.

"Yeah, I figured," Chloe muttered, crossing her arms as she watched the other three play and Marinette looked for....something. "Those two know the whole deal anyway. Even the ice queen chilled out about it."

"You shouldn't call her that," Marinette said.

"Kagami and I will work out what we're going to work out on our own. Neither of us are gonna let it get in the way," Chloe said with a sniff.

"It better not," Marinette said in warning.

Chloe looked at Marinette who was giving her a hard look. They stared at each other for several long moments and then Chloe looked away, towards the other three. "Might need to step up your game, Dupain-Cheng," she said.

"Wha-" 

Then the door suddenly flung open.

The Gorilla was there, Kagami and Adrien hiding, having accidentally dragged Vedalia with them. Instantly, both Marinette and Chloe were giving smiles to the Gorilla.

"Looking for something?" Marinette asked.

"He's showing Kagami where the bathroom is," Chloe added.

The Gorilla huffed and then left.

"Thanks guys," Adrien said as they stepped out of hiding.

"Kay. I gotta get going. I need bring these umbrellas to my parents," Marinette said, picking up the box.

"Wait!" Adrien started.

"Please, escape with us," Kagami said, looking back at Vedalia and then at Marinette. She paused at Chloe and smiled. "I believe it's more the merrier?"

"Well...I...uh-" Marinette started.

Chloe took the box of umbrellas. "I'll need to pass. It is my parents after all. You four have fun," she said. Because she really couldn't leave when it was her parents. It was a party she could attend with them, even if they kept bickering.

But she absolutely couldn't let Kagami and Adrien be alone.

Chloe left the kitchen with Marinette still sputtering. She headed for the buffet to drop off the umbrella's. "Hello," she said. 

Tom looked startled a bit at Chloe, but Sabine just gave her that gentle smile. "Hello, Chloe."

Chloe glanced around and leaned close. "Try not to call her to do more tasks for a little while, okay?"

"Why?" Tom asked, looking at Chloe a little more warily.

Chloe shrugged. "Young love," she said, putting down the box and abruptly walking away. Tom sputtering much like Marinette did, but Sabine just laughed in amusement.

Sabine was just....weird now. She wasn't sure how she felt about it.

And just as she predicted, her parents were still fighting. She wondered if she should intervene? This was starting to get embarrassing. But if she did that, she'd likely just be in the middle of the fight and that was...not a thing she wanted. It's not like she's good when her parents are flirting, it's so weird and alien, but she also didn't like them fighting and-

She started as a hand touched her shoulder and she looked to the side. "Vedalia?"

"I thought you could use someone to hang out with," Vedalia said with a smile. Then she looked at the two arguing. "Are they really arguing over drapery?"

"Yes. I'm not sure what my mother sees in it. It's rather frumpy for a Gabriel design," Chloe said.

"It looks like one of those get along shirt memes," Vedalia said, tapping her chin.

Chloe snorted, trying to hold back the laugh. "Maybe he's telling them to work on their marriage."

"Therapy through fashion," Vedalia said, her own smile widening.

"I've always found clothes quite comforting," Chloe said.

The girls continued joking in whispered voices, biting back laughs, never noticing the black butterfly. Not until it's far too late.

The screaming starts and their gazes snap to the front. Chloe can see Vedalia reaching down to pull out the yo-yo from her clothes.

Chloe grabs her wrist. "Identity," she hissed. "Get out of here and get out of those clothes. I'm going to contact Ladybug and Chat Noir, I'll make sure she knows you're around."

Vedalia looked around at the chaos, uncertain as people are turned into edible bites. Tom and Sabine, Jagged and his crocodile, and more-

"They have to be saved later," Chloe said.

She nodded and turned to run and Chloe turned the other way. Hawk Moth couldn't see her on the phone warning them. She just needed to get to her Bee Signal, plausible deniability then-

"Chloe! My princess!"

"You're going to give us all your love!"

Chloe skid to a halt. "Wha-? Nuh uh, no way. I don't love anyone! No love here!" Chloe said, stepping back.

"Of course you do, darling."

"You love yourself."

And that was an arrow to Chloe's heart. Did....did her own parents actually believe that? Not even taking her word in an Akuma rage, but to have the opinion that she only loves...herself?

She doesn't have time to ponder it, already diving out of the way of the laser eyes, running to get away, but she was alone on the floor, what was she going to do to get away-

"Leave her alone!" An all to familiar voice shouts as a chair goes flying for Heart Hunter's body.

Chloe snapped to look back, expecting Ladybug, but it's Vedalia, still in her clothes, across the room. "Veda! I told you to get lost!"

"You're her parents! Aren't Akuma's supposed to hold back against people they love?! What are you doing, targeting her like this?!" Vedalia asked, anger burning in her voice.

"What better love to consume?" Daddy said.

"She loves herself far more than anyone else could, even her own parents," Mom said.

Chloe hated this feeling in her chest, but that didn't matter. "Go away! I can handle-"

"No, I can handle them. Queen Bee will have a far better chance at finding Ladybug and Chat Noir," Veda said, grabbing another chair. "Let's see if you can dance with no feet."

Chloe saw Vedalia charge at Heart Hunter, dancing between the blasts, but still holding back. Still trying to protect her identity.

She didn't want to leave.

But Vedalia was Ladybug. And Ladybug would never run away from a fight when someone was in danger. 

The only way to save Vedalia was to be safe and get help.

She clenched her fists, turned, and ran.

She hit the roof, and ran to the Bee Signal. She flipped the switch before reaching for her phone, but paused as she didn't see any light come to life. "What? Who messed with my Bee Signal?" She said aloud, looking down at the pulled wire. Who would disable her signal? This was a good way to warn the heroes! It's not like people knew she could call!

"Ugh, whatever!" Chloe snapped, pulling out her phone and tried calling Adrien.

Who didn't answer.

Then Marinette.

Who didn't answer.

"Are you kidding me?!" She knew they were on weird three way date with Kagami, but was now REALLY the time?!

She sent off texts. Her parents had been Akumatized. They should get the picture then without revealing anything about them.

"I really don't want to do this, but....ugh. UGH." She pressed another number.

"...Chloe?" Alya said on the other line, confusion in her voice.

"My parents have been Akumatized. They're eating people in love. Get the word out as quick as possible, my signal has been disabled," Chloe said and hung up. Then she began calling every News station she could, get the word out, there was only so long until-

Heart Hunter burst out of the front doors of the hotel. 

Chloe stared at that.

"....no," she whispered. She turned and ran for the stairs, rushing down to the banquet floor. "Vedalia! Vedalia! Veda, answer me!" She looked around, under tables, behind counters, for any sign of her still being there. There was only broken furniture, but no sign of her.

But there was no answer.

She was gone.

The girl she had taken responsibility for. The girl she saved. The girl who....

Who wanted to understand her. 

Was gone.

Chloe...failed her. She shouldn't have run, she shouldn't have RUN-

She ran up to the stairs, texting Marinette over and over again to hurry, to go, rushing to her Bee Signal. "Has to be a way to fix it," she muttered. And she tried, she really did, but she didn't know the first thing about wiring.

But she tried to figure out something until she spotted it in the distant. Red and she was up on her feet. Marinette. Ladybug. She got her message.

"Ladybug! Bring me my Miraculous!" Chloe shouted after her, seeing her glance back. Chloe watched her go, her grip tightening on the railing.

She had to understand. She had to know how much Chloe needed to do this.

She pulled out her phone to find an update on what happened. Apparently Rena Rouge had showed up, but it was a minute before the girl was eaten by Heart Hunter. What about Chat? Where was he?

She tried calling Adrien again. And again. And again. And it seems on the third time Adrien finally got the hint.

"Chloe? I thought you were Nathalie, what's wro-"

"My parents have been Akumatized. They're eating people in love. They already got the fox," Chloe said. "And Vedalia."

There was silent a few beats. "Kagami, I'm sorry, I need t-whoa!"

"Adrien?!"

"I-I'm fine. Ladybug just grabbed Kagami kind of...abruptly," Adrien said.

Chloe scoffed. "Of course she did....well, hurry up! She's probably looking for Chat Noir to give the Bee to," she said.

"How are you so sure about that?" Adrien asked.

"It's my parents. Loved ones already in danger," Chloe said. "Go change. I'm waiting."

Chloe breathed a sigh as she hung up her phone. The heroes were on their way. Ladybug or Chat Noir would be here soon and she could make this right. She could fix her mistake.

So she waited. And minutes later, there was Ladybug and Ryuko, and she perked up, ready to accept the Miraculous.

Only to see Ladybug and Ryuko jump off and away.

Chloe almost doesn't believe it as she watches two red figures disappear into the distance.

It's dangerous because Hawk Moth knows your identity.

Hawk Mother knows Ryuko's identity.

It could put your loved ones in danger.

Almost all her loved ones are currently in danger anyway. Its her parents.

She slams a fist on the railing. "This isn't fair! Those are my parents! I have to make this right! I have to save them!" She shouted into the wind, feeling the tears build in her eyes. "I have to save them and Vedalia! And you choose her?!"

Maybe....

Maybe it was never about those reasons.

Bringing a new Bee to Malediktator when he was worked up about her might have been too dangerous and she was an emotional weakness Ladybug could have used.

She had limited options for Heroes Day.

Miraculer was much the same.

Marinette chose her because she had no choice. At least none that were good. Chloe was the least terrible choice to go with. It was never because she believed in Chloe. It was never because she thought Chloe could do this. It was never about her identity or her parents.

It was always about her.

And Ladybug lied to her. Marinette lied to her.

Even now she wasn't good enough.

Why did she even bother?

She looked at the Bee Signal and she grabs it, throwing it over the edge of the railing because why. Why did she even TRY?! Why did she bother?! Why did she think she could change?!

Why did she think she could be anything besides a useless, worthless, unexpceptional girl only playing pretend?!

Not chosen by her parents.

Not chosen by her dearest friend.

Not chosen by her hero.

Only chosen by a girl she let get eaten in her place.

"Chloe Bourgeois. Rejections hurt. Your talents deserved to be recognized," a voice Chloe's only heard in person once before spoke. 

Chloe spun around, tears trailing down her cheeks to stare at Hawk Moth in shock.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir's reign has gone on long enough."

Shock turned to confusion.

"It's time for Paris to have a new queen. And the queen on my chess board is you," Hawk Moth said.

And.....and the utter GALL of this man...

"You akumatized my parents!" He took Vedalia. "If I had my Miraculous-" Chloe started.

But Hawk Moth interrupted her, raising a hand. "You're right. But I did it for one reason only. So that you would finally realize Ladybug will never give you the Bee Miraculous again. I, however, always keep my promises," he said, presenting a Bee Miraculous.

"This isn't real," Chloe said immediately. "How do you have it?" She's sure this would be good because there was no way Hawk Moth could have the Bee Miraculous. This had to be a trick, some kind of con or cursed item.

"Try it, and see for yourself."

He was....very confident though. Was it actually the real deal?

"You're Ladybug's greatest fan. You've helped her. Trusted her. And what has she done for you in return?"

And she's reminded again. And it's true. She's been her greatest fan. She helped her, time and again. With Vanisher, with Despair Bear, Zombizou, Nice Guy, and keeping her secret, offering to do so much more to help. She tried to help with Style Queen, she helped with Malediktator and Heroes Day and Miraculer. She helped at risk to herself and with power to protect her.

She lied to her. She _lied_ to her face about why she couldn't and didn't correct it when identity wasn't an issue. She recruited Kagami, the girl whose identity was known, and loved ones weren't already in constant danger anyway. Ryuko has far more to lose than Queen Bee because she's already been living this life. Kagami, the one girl who could get Adrien's eye away from Ladybug and Marinette. Kagami whose talented and exceptional.

Because Ladybug doesn't believe in her. Doesn't trust her, no matter what she does. 

She should take it. She _deserves_ this. She's tried all she could for Ladybug and has nothing to show for it. Still treated like dealing with her is like dealing with the devil, like everything she does is really a long con to be worse? Why couldn't they just believe her when she said she was at least trying to be a good hero.

She should take it. She could free her parents. She could save Vedalia. She could make a deal to make sure Mayura never dispels her. She could save the people she cares about. She doesn't owe Ladybug _anything_ , not after all this time, not when she lied to her, why she let her hope this long. A liar doesn't deserve the Ladybug Miraculous!

She reaches for the Bee Miraculous.

And freezes.

Because maybe Marinette the liar doesn't deserve the Ladybug Miraculous.

But the deal is she gets what she wants for the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous.

Adrien whose smiled more since starting school, since becoming Chat.

Adrien who loves so fiercely.

Adrien with a little cheese monster cat who will be there when he has nightmares, and let him run free, and purr, and joke, and encourage that boy to do what it takes to be happy.

Adrien whose already lost one person who was always there, always a comfort, who almost withered away from the loss, who still feels that loss so very keenly.

"Why do you hesitate, Chloe? Surely you know you deserve this," Hawk Moth said, voice syrupy sweet. "Paris has always been yours. It should also be yours to protect, to control."

"You've sent Queen Wasp after the heroes before and there's three now," Chloe said. "Maybe four if that Fox comes back. What makes you think this is going to be any different? I'm not interested in going into a losing fight," Chloe said, glaring up at Hawk Moth. "I'd just lose the Bee Miraculous again."

Hawk Moth chuckled. "A cunning girl," he said. "It won't be four against one. It'll be four against fourteen. Ladybug no longer has the Miraculous."

Ice dumped through Chloe's veins. Oh.

The back and forth. Of course. Of COURSE klutzy Marinette Dupain-Cheng would get followed one day. Did he know her identity?

No, one thing at a time.

He had the Miraculous. If Chloe refused, he would disappear with the Miraculous.

"Fourteen, huh? Those are a lot better odds," she said. "Deakumatize my parents first, or no deal."

"Whatever you say, my Queen," Hawk Moth said.

Chloe snatched the Miraculous, putting it on, and turning away.

"Your majesty, wait-" Pollen started.

"Silence! You will only speak when spoken to," Chloe snapped, not looking back. She doesn't want to yell at Pollen, but she has to brace herself for this. "Pollen, buzz on!"

She watches as her parents are freed, and Ladybug reverses the damage. 

Her parents and Vedalia are safe.

She needed to focus on the next part.

She keeps her face blank, contemptuous, even as she focuses inward. Akuma's don't hurt their loved ones. The love shines through so they aren't hurt. She's seen it time and time again, supervillains being grossly sweet to their crush or significant other, so long as the Akuma wasn't angry at that loved one. As long as those feelings were enough.

She feels the darkness creep into her being. "I know what you want," she said, interrupting Hawk Moth's speech, and closing her eyes and focusing.

She thought of a little boy. So shy at first, but loved to play games with her. Adored her as a battle princess, loved playing her helpful knight. A little boy who was there when her mother walked away, who always remembered her birthday even if she couldn't remember it herself. Who chased her through the halls below her feet. The boy she had loved more and more, who was always the person she could claim as her friend without hesitation.

The boy she'd change for. The boy she'd be nice for. The boy she watched fading away even as he forced himself to smile for her. The boy she'd cry for because he wouldn't cry for himself.

The boy who almost died for her, too many times now. The boy who saved her despite her being ungrateful.

The boy who believed she could change even when everyone else said the opposite.

The boy she loved enough to give up her selfish wishes for.

She focused on that feeling, burying it deep in the need for control, in the need to be more than she was.

As the darkness overtook her, she prayed it was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing I wished had happened in Heart Hunter: Chloe pulling the long con because she realized Hawk Moth having the Bee Miraculous was Bad News. Sadly not the case.
> 
> Though I can understand why she was as angry as she was. From Chloe's perspective, the one person she was always nice to, who she admired and adored, had basically lied to her face. By choosing Ryuko of all people, it told Chloe 'identity' wasn't the issue and 'loved ones in danger' wasn't the issue because literally the one other person with those problems was chosen instead. When Chloe's parents were already in danger.
> 
> Plus it was Kagami and Chloe is very much threatened by Kagami. Maybe more so than Marinette and we know Marinette makes Chloe Extra Irrational.
> 
> Having someone she trusted completely avoid her than have a tough conversation was already bad enough in Miraculer. Having that person then go back on what she said later with someone who personally threatens Chloe as a person is a huge thing. Especially for someone like Chloe who has issues thinking she's not worth much at all.
> 
> Having a mental break down is believable.
> 
> Though Miracle Queen does quite a bit to ruin what is a very believable breakdown otherwise.
> 
> That's gonna have a lot more reworked.


	19. Secret of Emotional Chaos

_It was hard to think._

"We should rat her out now! It's what she deserves!"

"Like she's even worth our time. We should just take control of the city and show them how amazing we are. Ladybug can be taken care of any time."

"Do we have to? I'm tired."

_There was too many emotional impulses and she just wanted the world to burn, to stop, to go away._

"We have to protect Adrien."

_There was only one port in the storm._

There was a girl of fire. Made of rage and pain that wanted to consume.

A girl made of ice. Cold and contemptuous.

A girl made of shadows, slumped over, looking ready to fade at a moment's notice.

And a girl, a little girl, holding a stuffed bee with diamond eyes.

"We don't have to rat out Adrien, just her. Hawk Moth can rip off her earlobes for all we care!" The girl of fire snarled.

"He's the one who wants them so bad. He can do the work," the girl of shadow said. "We don't even need to be here."

"Adrien would be sad then," the little girl said.

"He'll get over it!" Fire snapped. "She's a liar anyway. He can just get with Kagami and leave her in the trash like he should have in the first place!"

"Adrien doesn't get over sadness. That's why we cry for him," the little girl said.

_She was being presented with a box and led to another place. She follows without delay._

The fire dims a moment. "It's time he learned!" Fire snarled, brightening again. "She played us for fools! Utter fools! She deserve to pay."

"But Adrien doesn't."

"We won't rat him out!"

"He'll give himself for her."

The fire flickers again, glaring at the little girl who looks back with determined eyes despite her young face.

"We don't know that."

"We do," the little girl said. "Adrien would give all of himself for Ladybug. He's done it before. He'd do it again."

_She sees an old man in a green globe of protection. The guardian. He would know the identities._

"She deserves it," Fire protests.

"But he doesn't. Giving Ladybug to Hawk Moth would hurt Adrien. There's no way it wouldn't," the little girl said.

"We'd lose him," the girl of shadows said softly.

Fire dims. Still present, but no longer so bright.

_She says nothing about Ladybug's identity._

"But do we really need Adrien? We could have all of Paris," the girl of ice said.

"We've always needed Adrien," the little girl said.

"But now we'd have all of Paris! They'd all adore us, listen to us. We would be Queen. Beloved by all!" Ice declared.

"As long as Hawk Moth gave us the power to make them," the little girl said.

"We could just take his power," Ice said.

"How?"

"Take his Miraculous!"

"We couldn't Akumatize ourselves."

"Then we just find a patsy to do it!"

"Who would we even trust for that?"

Ice paused at that, and there's a crack in the ice. "There's Sabrina."

"Marinette has talked Sabrina away before," the little girl said.

"Well then there's....there's..." Ice trailed off.

_She stands in front of Hawk Moth. She ponders if she really needs them to be Queen._

"There's no one. We'd just be in a city with mindless slaves," the little girl said.

"There's nothing wrong with that!" Ice protested.

"There's plenty," the little girl said. "It hurt when Adrien drifted away from us. This would drive him away completely."

The ice cracks more and more. "I'm....I'm fine with that."

"Are you really?"

"....no."

Water begins to seep through the cracks.

_She turns away from Hawk Moth and Mayura. Now isn't the time. She has allies, and she needs them by her side._

The girl of shadows looks at the little girl. She looked so very tired. Flickering, barely there, but ever present just the same. There is a long time where the two simply stare at each other.

"Do I have to?" Shadow asked.

The little girl smiled sadly. "We're the only ones who can."

"They're not going to appreciate us. They never do. We don't mean anything to them," Shadow said.

"...its not about what we mean to them. It's about what he means to us," the little girl said, hugging the Bee tighter. "We can't live without him in our lives."

"...no. I guess not," Shadow said, flickers of light in her dark form.

_Miracle Queen steps down on the Trocadero, the image of a Queen. A gown of Edwardian inspiration, with a layered skirt, ending near her knees to allow for mobility, and knee high black boots with yellow accents, complete with wicked heels, and long flowing sleeves with black bands. Lace and frills, unnecessary for fighting, but perfect for royalty. With swathes of yellow, accented with black, hair flowing around her shoulders with streaks of black. An obsidian crown resides on her head along with the Bee Miraculous._

_A black rose rests above her heart, pinned to her dress._

"We have things we want," the little girl said. "We want to be loved and adored," she said to Ice. "We want to be vindicated," she said to Fire. "We want to stop having to try so hard just to get to the starting line," she said to Shadow.

She looked down at the stuffed bee with diamond eyes.

"But...we need Adrien," she said. "And right now the villains have all the Miraculous except what's handed out. We need to get these back to Ladybug and Chat Noir. We need to protect their identities. And we need to not burn the bridge to them completely."

"They need to believe we might still side with them later," Ice said.

"Which means trusting Marinette Dupain-Cheng," Fire said with disgust.

"This is going to be so tiring," Shadow said.

"Yes. But to save Adrien, we'll do anything," the little girl said, holding out her hands to the other.

And with great reluctance, the fractured emotions and desires took her hand. Unifying in one single desire.

Protect the one thing she could not afford to lose at all costs.

_"Feel free to begin anytime, my Queen," Hawk Moth said._

_Miracle Queen glanced back, and then she looked towards Paris. "Then let's play chess."_

_And she unleashed the swarm._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, if you're going to be LAZY with Chloe's Season Finale Big Badness, should have at least given her a new outfit. Rin Kagamine's Daughter of Evil various dress designs is kind of what I'm going with because Chloe would love those dresses.
> 
> Also kind of a weird chapter, but I do like metaphorical head space chats.


	20. Intermission: Unexpected Ally

"I'm sorry about that," Alya said, arm looped through Nino's as they walk through the street.

"Hey, don't worry about it. At least your family knows you'll run after Akuma's. I might even look better for your parents since they know I'll go watch your back. Supposedly," Nino said, glancing away.

Alya smiled fondly, reaching up for his cheek to get him to look at her again. "I know you would if you could. I remember you fighting an Akuma without a super suit. I'm sure Ladybug will figure out that 'complicated' situation one day."

Nino put his hand over hers and smiled back. "I hope so. You're pretty amazing babe, but I'd still feel a lot better if I could watch your back more."

"And I'd feel better knowing you're not gonna run out to attack an akuma with a pipe if things get dicey," Alya teased, the couple laughing.

"So it was really Chloe who called you?" Nino asked after a bit.

Alya nodded. "She said her signal was disabled."

"That's weird. Who'd disable the Bee Signal?" Nino said.

Alya frowned. "That's actually a good question. Rich, snobby hotel doesn't really get a lot of vandals and cutting a wire to a random light would be a weird way for the few rebels to go. Maybe one of the staff was mad with Chloe?"

"Mad with Chloe to cause property damage, but not an Akuma? She was really threading the needle there," Nino said.

"Yeah....yeah, I guess so," Alya said with a frown.

"Alya? You got that face," Nino said.

"It's just....ever since I realized Lila was lying, I've been trying to not be so....you know, kneejerk about people? And I know Chloe is a brat, but it's just....why the Bee Signal? Sure, Chloe cares about it, but it's also a Knightowl signal," Alya said. "It's useful to have around."

"A Knightowl signal? Oh...yeah, I guess it is," Nino said.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir both arrived after I did. If the Bee Signal had been operational, we might not have been hit at all. I don't know, it just....it feels weird. If someone knew Chloe enough to know she'd hate the Bee Signal being disabled, but not even consider how useful it'd be for the Grand Paris after so many attacks happening there," Alya said. "Especially when it happens when her parents were Akumatized. It feels a little too...insidiously coincidental."

"You think maybe Hawk Moth really might be targeting her directly?"

"Maybe. It might be worth looking into," Alya said, frowning at the sidewalk.

She doesn't even see them coming. But Nino does, glancing up just in time to see the swarm. "Oh no," he breathed and before Alya could see what was wrong, Nino had grabbed her wrist and was dragged her away.

"Wha-Nino?!"

"Bees! Glowing bees! We have to get aw-" Nino called back as they duck through an alley.

Only to run into another swarm.

~~~

It hasn't even been a week and here Marinette was, breaking down in his arms. Luka isn't sure what's going on in Marinette's life, but he's becoming more and more concerned. He had hoped with Lila still being out of school that Marinette's stress would have decreased.

She had made up with Alya. He heard from Juleka and Rose how everyone was putting together all of Lila's tales to see if things didn't match up. How support for Marinette was growing. Marinette's parents were also catering at the Grand Paris which meant they should have gotten good money. By all accounts, Marinette should be feeling more hopeful.

What is she putting a front for? What are these responsibilities? What's hurting her? He wanted to help her, he wanted to make this better, but he wasn't sure how. He wondered if just listening was enough?

But he's not sure if it could be when she's telling him she's fine and smiling.

Was this another front?

He doesn't know, not for sure, but he also doesn't want to push her if she's having a break down, letting her change the subject. Maybe he could see if they could hang out later or tomorrow, talk to her in private...

He just hopes this isn't just an Adrien problem. He likes Adrien, he's a nice guy, but he hates how he keeps accidentally hurting her by not even seeing her feelings. If he did, then maybe Marinette would know one way or the other, at least give her closure.

He glances up at movement.

"Marinette!" He grabs her arm and pulls her forward, starting to push her in front of him as he runs.

"L-Luka?!"

"You have to go, now!" Luka said. And so did he. He had to change because those bees froze all of Paris last time. Ladybug and Chat Noir would need him, but he couldn't abandon Marinette.

He wouldn't abandon Marinette.

But putting himself between Marinette and the bees was his downfall, the girl tripping and himself going down in turn.

The swarm was coming.

"Sass, sca-" Luka started and froze.

~~~

Marinette held her breath, staring up at Luka's frozen face, eyes wide and blank. Her heartbeat roared in her ears, trapped under the body of the boy.

But she was a small girl and the bees were not terrible smart. Mostly covered by Luka, they miss her and move on. For the moment, at least.

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief as the buzzing faded. "Oh Luka...."

"He didn't want to leave you," Tikki said softly.

"It is always hardest to make wise decisions when it comes to love," Sass said, moving out of Luka's jacket.

Marinette smiled sadly. "Protecting me isn't as important as a promise to Ladybug," she said softly, gently pushing him to lay down on the ground. It hurt, knowing how much this boy cared about her. It hurt more because it's not like her heart didn't call out for him.

But Adrien....

But Adrien...

But Adrien with Kagami is what started her being flustered. It what made her approach Fu as Ladybug. It's why she chose Kagami.

And now...

She could hear the buzzing getting louder.

"Ladybug, it would be best to take my Miraculous with my holder like this," Sass suddenly said.

"You're right," Marinette said, grabbing the bracelet and getting to her feet. The Snake was powerful, and it might be necessary for this kind of foe after all.

Right now, however, she needs to get away, pulling out a macaron as she ran for the water.

~~~

Chat feels dread grow in the pit of his stomach as he sees the sight. "They have Master Fu and the Miracle Box. And....and Chloe is the Akuma," Chat said. The wasps had meant it was likely her, but he had hope that maybe...

This was bad. This was all bad, Chat can't even make himself joke. Maybe if it was just Fu and the Box, but that was Chloe. Chloe who knew HIS identity. Who knew LADYBUG's identity.

"It's....it's my fault. I didn't turn back before I went to find him," Ladybug admitted, voice trembling.

"What?" Chat said. 

"I was. Confused. I'm sorry. I'm such a failure," Ladybug said, bowing her head, burying her face in her hands, starting to shake. 

"Ladybug," Chat started, reaching out for her.

She pushed away his hand, looking up, the devastation clear on her face. "You don't understand, Chat! She knows who I am," Ladybug said and Chat is pretty sure if they weren't in water, there would be tears in her eyes. "They have Master Fu, the Miraculous, and my identity!"

....well, this isn't when he wanted to have this talk.

"If she gave it up," Chat said.

"It's Chloe, Chloe who I hurt, because I was confused and now Hawk Moth knows who I am. It's over, it's all over because...because I let my heart get in the way of what I knew I needed to do!" Ladybug shouted, arms wrapped around herself, starting to shake.

"You heart....?" Chat said in confusion.

She kept her mouth shut for a few moments. Then her shoulders slumped. "I guess there's no point in hiding my identity from you, is there? It's because-"

Chat put his hand over her mouth.

It's probably the hardest it's ever been to touch Ladybug.

"Chloe might not have given up your identity," Chat said.

Ladybug looked at Chat, confused and in disbelief, her words muffled by his hand.

"Chloe knows mine," Chat said. "My identity. Life or death situation, I had to make a call. And....and I don't know how you know her in your civilian life, but I know you do," Chat said. "Not because she said something, but the way you treated her. It was obvious you knew her out of the suit. And I know how she is, but she...." Chat pulled his hand away, Ladybug still looking confused, his hands waving a bit as he tries to find a way to SAY this.

Why does Chloe have so few friends? Why does it have to be so obvious to anyone who knows her?

"Chloe....Chloe and I have a complicated history. Not a lot of people know about it, you may have never seen us together at all," he said. It was very broadly not a lie if he took 'not a lot of people' as 'out of the population of Paris.' 

Even if he's pretty sure Ladybug goes to his school and most of those people would have at least seen them together. Glamour is probably the only thing helping this lie not out himself.

"I....I have reason to believe Chloe wouldn't reveal my identity. And if she doesn't reveal mine, it might be enough to not reveal yours," Chat said. 

Ladybug was silent for several moments. "You really believe that?" She asked softly.

"I do," Chat said. "I really do." Chloe knows his feelings for Ladybug. Her love for him might just be enough she wouldn't make her life completely hell. There was a huge difference between throwing a tantrum Chloe and lifelong destruction plotting Chloe. He had to hope this was the former. He wanted to believe this was the former. He wanted to believe his childhood friend wouldn't really go that low.

"....but even if that's true...." Ladybug said, still looking uncertain if she believed him. Then the despair came to her face. "They still have Master Fu and the Miracle box. Because of me. Because I messed up."

"Come on, Bugaboo," Chat said, reaching out for her, but not rebuffed this time. "The important thing is to save Master Fu. And we'll need a focused Ladybug for that. Crazy situation, crazy odds, we need those complicated head of yours," he said with an encouraging smile. "Forget what happened, okay?"

Ladybug looked at him and he could see the gratitude, happy his words got through to her. "Thank you, Chat. You're always there for me," she said, moving forward to hug him.

It's always a surprise when she hugs him. Not a small touch or clean, but a real hug, but he always treasures them, hugging her back. "Always, little bug."

"Am I interrupting?" A voice said a few moments later.

Both Chat and Ladybug yelped, breaking apart to face the sudden intruder.

Vedalia was floating there, looking unimpressed.

"Vedalia?!" Ladybug yelped in surprise. "How are you talking underwater? You don't have the potion. How are you breathing?"

"Because I'm a Sentimonster," Vedalia said, swimming over to latch onto Chat's arm. "I'm a magical being. I don't need to breathe."

Apparently she was still kind of possessive of him. Chat had been hoping that would lessen with time with her Amok.

"How did you avoid the wasps? You must have been at ground zero," Chat said.

"I was," Vedalia said. "I showed up after the Miraculous Cure, and when I tried to find Chloe on the roof, there was a hoard of wasps. And I mean...they stung. They stung a lot, but they didn't paralyze me like they did everyone else there. I guess because I'm magic?"

"Well, that's lucky," Chat said.

"Or because she's a Sentimonster," Ladybug said, looking at Vedalia with wide eyes, but there was also that gleam Chat knew so well. The one where Ladybug was going to do something super awesome, or more or less throw him at the enemy.

"Didn't she...just say that?" Chat asked.

"No. There were people in file in front of Miracle Queen. She didn't sting a panicked crowd like that. She must have the ability to command people who've been stung. Vedalia is immune because a Sentimonster is compelled to obey their Amok holder all else," Ladybug said.

It's then Chat gets it. "And because she's her own Amok holder, no one else can command her to do anything!"

"Which means she's completely immune to Chloe's power," Ladybug said, a wide grin spreading across her face.

Vedalia perked up. "Wait, so I can fight this time?"

"Wait, no! Ladybug, Mayura's there," Chat said, looking between the two bugs.

"Don't worry, Chat. I have an idea for that too," Ladybug said, all signs of distress and hopelessness gone.

It was good to see his Lady confident again, but Chat still isn't wholly convinced he isn't getting thrown at the enemy again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kept going back and forth if I wanted to change Miracle Queen's power, but I felt it would get too unwieldy for the story to change that and I wouldn't be able to properly utilize it anyway. So main power more or less the same.
> 
> Though I may do a more canon rewrite of Miracle Queen with everything the same until the actual episode itself. Because I have So Many Thoughts on that.
> 
> Also all the stuff with Kagami and Adrien was relatively the same as Miracle Queen, but the AFTER stuff....there's gonna be stuff there.


	21. Secret of Defeat

"That should be a good part of the city. Adrien Agreste, come to me!" Miracle Queen ordered.

She doesn't see how the two villains start behind her.

"Don-why are you summoning a model, my queen?" Hawk Moth demanded, more aggressively than the syrupy sweet tone he's been using.

She looked back, ice in her gaze. "I'm a QUEEN. And I need a king. He's the best candidate in all of Paris," she said. Then she hummed, tapping her chin. "I'll also need servants....ah, I know! Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Kagami Tsurugi! Come to me!"

"Is this really the time?" Hawk Moth asked, the aggressiveness out of his tone, though he was still certainly testy.

Miracle Queen isn't surprised. The sweet was to manipulate her, she knows, but it still annoys her. Did he really expect her to just blindly follow his orders just because he calls her queen? "I want to immediately celebrate my victory. Adrikins and I will go on a parade the city, with those two witches throwing confetti and my new guard carrying us," she said with a dreamy sigh.

And at least now she can explain Adrien and Marinette showing up if they didn't get away. If they didn't....

If they didn't, she'd cross that bridge once she had to.

"Kagami Tsurugi is the dragon Miraculous user," Mayura pointed out.

"Hm? Oh, right. Well, she'll carry and the baker will throw confetti," Miracle Queen said with a dismissive wave. "It still serves them right," she said, walking to one of the stone platforms of the Trocadero and sitting down. Careful to lay her skirt down flat and resting the miracle box on her knees, prim and proper. Slow and steady. She needs time, desperately. Part of her still wants to just rip out Ladybug's throat herself, but she can't. Adrien, Adrien, she has to think of Adrien.

She opens the box, looking inside.

"Don't you want to call more to you?" Hawk Moth asked, back to syrup.

"I'm deciding that now, be patient. Your Queen knows what she's doing," she said, looking over what's in the box. Then she huffed. "There's nine Miraculous missing. I'm guessing the Fox really is a permanent hero. Ugh, she was so annoying," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Let's see, that's there, there, there, and.....Ladybug probably has the dragon now, she was always so PROMPT to take them back," she said, letting bitterness color her voice. Then she looks at the Snake.

....there was no reason she'd know what it'd do, was there?

"What's this one?" She asked, pointing to it.

Hawk Moth leaned over to look. "So she's made the Snake a permanent hero as well. An insurance policy, I'm sure. That means we'll have someone suitable for it, that's good."

"What's it do?" Miracle Queen demanded.

"It allows for the wielder to redo the same five minutes. Within that window, they can do it countless times until they get things right," Hawk Moth said.

Miracle Queen hummed, tapping her chin. "The owners of the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous, come to me," she ordered. "No point doing all this if they're already stung, but just to be safe, the Fox Miraculous user and the Snake Miraculous user, go to the nearest public establishment and hide in a closet."

Mayura and Hawk Moth looked startled. "What are you doing? With the Snake, we can't lose!" Hawk Moth snapped, looking angry.

Miracle Queen glared back. "The Snake is a quick save ability!"

"A....what?"

"Play a video game," she said with a roll of her eyes. "A quick save ability. When you play a video game, you save before you go into an encounter you know is tough. If you can't win the first time, you have more information to be more prepared. Personally, I like it when I can enter a hoard fight and not start the encounter immediately so I can set up mines. It's fun to watch half the number get eaten up in an explosion."

"Which is why we should have it on our side!" Hawk Moth insisted.

"It's why we shouldn't! Because we don't remember!" Miracle Queen said, throwing up her hands. "Quick save is useful because the PLAYER gathers information so they can do better in the fight. The only one who remembers is them! But they listen to my orders. They could easily get trapped in an unwinnable loop, like when you quick save right before a bomb goes off in your face except there's no further back load option. That's too risky, especially when Ladybug and Chat Noir might be able to steal the Miraculous. The User just WALKING here might mean they pass them by and they can take it then. No, it's better they're out of sight where they can't be found because they're too risky on our side and it's not like we can use it. I'm already commanding an army, it might mess with you powering me, and if I can almost steal the Peacock from her, Ladybug and Chat Noir have a good shot at getting the Snake," she said, crossing her arms and putting up her nose.

She might feel a little vindicated at the shocked looks on their faces. The old man in the green shield was also looking at her in confusion. Good. It's what they get for thinking she was an idiot.

"And Rena Rouge?" Mayura asked.

"Fake surrender to get close. Illusion to make yellow eyes and act like a zombie, steal my Akumatized Item, they win. If she didn't have her Miraculous, then it'd be fine, but since she does, it's too much risk. Now we know if Rena Rouge shows up, it's a lie and we're ready," she said with a shrug. Which is also a bridge she'll have to cross when she gets to it. "Which leaves....ah, the Horse, and the Monkey," she said, pulling out the items. "They're boys, so they can't be Rena Rouge pretending. The Horse Miraculous user and Monkey Miraculous user, come to me." Unfortunately, she could tell their patience was being tested.

She had to rat out those two, but they would have to deal with it. Teleportation was manageable, at least, as well as whatever....toy exploding power the Monkey had. It was a weird one, but at least it wasn't Quick Save and it wasn't exposing the permanent heroes.

"Now tell me about the rest of these," Miracle Queen ordered.

"There was a user for the Mouse," Hawk Moth said. "It has the power to divide a person into smaller pieces."

She hummed. "Let me guess, too small to get on camera?"

"That is correct."

"The Mouse Miraculous user, come to me," she said. "Might as well get experience that isn't going to bite us. Now let's cover the rest."

And hopefully buy time. Where WERE those heroes????

~~~

In a rush, Ladybug and Chat Noir had appeared. Except Ladybug looked different.

"About time you two arrived!" Miracle Queen said with an annoyed scoff. "How dare you keep your new queen waiting, Ladybug!"

"That's Dragonbug to you, Chloe," Ladybug shot back.

"It's Miracle Queen. A fitting title for the ruler of the Miraculous and Paris!" Miracle Queen said with a flick of her hair.

"You can't tell me you really want to do this, Chloe," Chat Noir said. "You wanted to be a hero."

Miracle Queen looked at him and her heart seized even as she kept her face blank. "How dare you talk to me, you mangy cat," she said with scorn. "I'm a Queen. I don't talk to the second fiddle. I deserve the best. I deserve a Miraculous. I deserve to rule. I deserve the very best in everything. I'll even have the best King as soon as I find Adrien. He's even avoided my wasps, isn't he just wonderful?" She said with a dreamy sigh.

Dragonbug scowled, but Chat Noir looked at her with a blank expression. Blank model expression.

He's trying to hide his relief. Good. He knows she's still here. She almost talked about Marinette being her servant, but....no. No, that's giving her TOO much attention. At least anyone with eyes would know Chloe is interested in Adrien, that's just odd.

And honestly she DESERVES to squirm. Just because she's not ratting her out doesn't mean she doesn't deserve punishment, doesn't deserve to PAY....

"Now why don't you just hand over the dragon, I have a servant whose being under utilized," she said, waving a hand to Kagami, who was fanning her with an Eiffel Tower fan she got from a souvenir cart. "Oh! And might as well hand over your other Miraculous."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Chat Noir said with a mocking grin.

It's then Hawk Moth started talking, trying to drive a wedge between the two, but Miracle Queen watches them. She can see the guilt on Dragonbug's face, but Chat won't let her feel it. They're rallying.

Good. That's good.

She took a moment to breathe and focus. It didn't matter she wanted to hurt Ladybug. Dragonbug. Whatever.

She wouldn't hurt Adrien. Her heart hurt at the very thought. At least not hurt him in a way the Miraculous Cure wouldn't fix.

"En garde my guards!" Miracle Queen ordered, sending her minions forward. Pegasus and Roi Singe, Max and Kim. Then the Ox for Ivan because well, it was an obvious choice. She always liked being direct and super strength was the way to go. And then there was the Tiger for Sabrina. Her loyal friend and she already had practice at being invisible. She had bought at least a little time by 'pondering' what Miraculous to give Kagami. After all, she was experienced too.

But she hadn't decided. At least four might be doable.

And....apparently it was. It REALLY was because Dragonbug and Chat Noir were moving like the wind. Roi SInge almost gets Dragonbug, but Chat Noir dove for his feet to knock him out of the way, and judging by the flicker in the air, avoiding an invisible Sabrina. He yells and Dragonbug manages to jump over Ivan. He almost drops down into a teleportation and manages to jump over last second to snatch away Roi Singe's staff. 

Besides a small stumble at the very beginning of the fight from Chat, the two of them move like there is no doubt. It's like they know things were happening before they did, her Adrien especially. He has to move to defend Dragonbug more than once, but he never fails. It's almost a beautiful dance to watch.

It was also extremely annoying to watch. Sure, she didn't win, but she would have loved to see Marinette take a few hits to that annoying, self righteous, LYING LITTLE FA-

"Dragonbug, hole there!" Chat Noir shouted.

Miracle Queen just manages to catch Roi Singe's staff before it hits her in the face. "That could have damaged my face!" Miracle Queen shrieked.

"I was aiming for lower. You should know I'd never damage a girl's face," Chat offered back in sing song. "Even if she's a lot prettier with blonde than black."

Miracle Queen felt her face flush. It was rare Adrien to compliment her looks without her asking. "S-shut up! I'm perfectly fine in black! I pull it off better than you!"

"Now that's a lie! I look cat-tastic in black!" 

"Are you flirting with the Akuma?!" Dragonbug said in bewilderment.

"Wha-that's not-my Lady, that's not it at all!" Chat Noir protested.

"Ugh, you two! You're ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" Miracle Queen groaned, facepalming.

"My Queen, I believe it's time to shift the odds more in our favor," Hawk Moth said.

"You could shift the odds by breaking the old man's shield," Miracle Queen snapped, rubbing at her cheek to banish the blush.

"And you have another user beside you," Hawk Moth said calmly. "You've been so clever so far, My Queen, a barrier is easy to overcome."

She gritted her teeth. There was no way for her to get around this. They had talked through the uses of the other Miraculous. The pros and cons with her efforts to buy time and finding people they'd suit. Of course she called Sabrina and gave her the Tiger because she hoped invisibility was easier to deal with since they had experience. And plenty of enemies had been strong, even if Ivan was especially strong. Strong and invisible, enemies they'd fought before. But of Miraculous that could really turn the tides were a few. 

The Rabbit being the most obvious, but the fact it was any time over the five minutes meant an accidental paradox could have easily happened.

But of the others....which could she under utilize...

Oh, a way through the barrier.

She turned to Kagami, grabbing the Dog Miraculous. She put the collar around her neck, she could even pretend this is a way to demean Kagami. Of course she made her a dog, she hated her. Of course this is her choice. This made sense for her, this would be plausible deniability, she could protect Adrien.

She would just need to stay calm. It's hard. Its very hard right now, seeing Dragonbug. She wanted to fight her, she wanted to hurt her. She doesn't know how well she'll hold back inside the barrier. But she can't fight Chat Noir. She would hold back. She would give away the game and she can't. There is too much more at stake. She had to play the game, she had to pretend she was truly dedicated to this. 

She had to do this.

For Adrien's sake. For her own. For all of Paris. 

She just had to hope this isn't checkmate.

"Order your kwami to tell you how to transform and use it's power," she ordered.

The dog appeared, looking around in distress. "I don-" he started.

"Tell me how to transform and use your power," Kagami said in a monotone.

To the kwami's credit, he tried to keep his mouth closed, before the words tumbled out. "Barkk, let's play and Fetch to borrow what you need."

Miracle Queen made a go on gesture. "Barkk, let's play," Kagami said in monotone.

"Now Fetch Voy-" Miracle Queen started.

Then quite suddenly there was a very loud, peaking, high pitched song blasting from somewhere in the Trocadero. Miracle Queen ducked, covering her ears, seeing Roi Singe suddenly go down moments after, then Sabrina suddenly appearing in view after bumping into the frog. Good, good because now she understands what that stupid toy is supposed to do. It's to disrupt powers, that had been a miscalculation. Two down, they could fight. They could...they could...

UGH, why was it so loud? And high pitched, it felt like the song was drilling into her ears.

But even if the volume made it hard to truly hear the beat, Miracle Queen....she KNOWS that song....was it really....

"They have an ally!" Hawk Moth shouted.

"Are you seriously playing Daughter of Evil?!" Miracle Queen shrieked instead because REALLY? How had Adrien planned that? Because this was absolutely Adrien's idea! She doesn't know if Marinette even knows what a Vocaloid is, but she and Adrien had cosplayed as those twins when they were younger. This was absolutely HIM, the BRAT.

"I thought you'd appreciate it! At least you borrowed a look from over a decade ago!" Chat Noir jeered.

"Hey! Vocaloids are great music when you're not blasting it at max volume!" Miracle Queen shouted. "And you're killing your ears more than mine, you stupid feline!"

"Some sacrifices must be made!" Chat said even though she can see the pain in his face. That idiot. That stupid, idiotic boy, hurting himself to what, get on their nerves? What in the world is he thinking?

She was going in there JUST TO KNOCK SOME SENSE INTO HIM.

"Tsurugi, get us-" Miracle Queen rounded to look for the girl and-

She was gone.

Oh.

"Where's my servant?!" Miracle Queen shouted up at Hawk Moth and Mayura.

It seems it took them a few moments to notice too.

"Do you really think saving one girl is going to change the tide?" Hawk Moth demanded of Dragonbug.

Miracle Queen knew it wasn't that simple. The question was, who was the target?

It doesn't take long to figure it out as a swarm of green wasps suddenly appear in the air.

Was....was this it?

Did they just win?

It was her last thought before she felt a sting and there is relief. She was going to lose. They were going to lose. They weren't ready, already stung, already going rigid. Her awareness was fading, probably only lingering thanks to it being her own power, but she can see Mayura releasing the Amok, the vanishing Sentimonster. Just order them to remove their Miraculous, finish this, save Adrien, save Adrien, SAVE ADRIEN...!

And then suddenly awareness is back as the green wasps suddenly dissipate into the air.

What? Wasn't the Dog supposed to share her limits?

"How-who dares to steal from the Que-" Miracle Queen shouted, before a wire wrapped around her, pulling her back.

And right into Chat Noir's arms, grabbing the rose pinned to her dress, releasing the Akuma.

~~~

Queen Bee goes limp in his arms. He knew whatever happened was going to be something wild the moment Pit Viper said she had a way to save Fu. Dragonbug and him followed along with her guidance, how to avoid, how to distract, and when Dragonbug saw the wasps, she told him to be ready to grab Miracle Queen.

It had taken a few moments, to get away from the still active Pegasus and Ox, but Dragonbug was able to pull her in so he could get her item, the flower turning into the pieces of her top as the butterfly flits into the air. Ladybug is quick to catch it and purify the butterfly.

Their eyes turn to the rooftop, seeing the Sentimonster is gone, but the villains were only under the green wasps long enough to dismiss it. They were still active.

"No! No, she was so close!" Hawk Moth snarled, holding up his staff. "Miracle Queen, you will rise-"

Except then Mayura stumbled and almost fell over the edge of the roof, Hawk Moth catching her just in time.

And for a moment, heroes and villains were frozen in place. A need to fight, but also worry. Jade Turtle had fallen to his knees, his barrier still incredibly weak. Queen Bee was starting to move in Chat Noir's arms. Mayura was in some kind of bad way.

Hawk Moth is the one who comes to the decision, grabbing Mayura and turning to run.

"Oh no you don't-!" Chat started, ready to give chase, sparing only a second to put Queen Bee down somewhat gently, just to stop as Dragonbug grabs his arm. "My Lady-"

"The Dog has the limits of the power. It should have lasted longer," Dragonbug said, fear in her eyes. "You're the one who can find her fastest."

Chat froze at that, ice dumping into his veins. Those wasps had only been present maybe fifteen seconds. He knows multiple Miraculous is supposed to be hard, but that was....that was too short. That was FAR too short.

"Find who?" Queen Bee asked, hand on her head, looking disorientated as to be expected with an Akumatization.

"Veda," Chat said softly.

Queen Bee froze. She looked up, eyes wide with horror. "What did I do?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So pit vipers can be red.
> 
> Also I do love Vocaloid music, but I've blasted my own ears once with Daughter of Evil, and it hurt my ears at least. (And never started a playlist with a Vocaloid song again in case I forget to lower volumes.)
> 
> Also gosh, FIGURING OUT OTHER MIRACULOUS POWERS. Sorry Max and Kim, but some people had to get outed.
> 
> Ox is straight forward. I've seen multiple people saw Tiger is invisibility and that tracks with my theory on how Miraculous powers relate to Akuma powers.
> 
> Bubbles=Bubble shield.  
> Knock off, straight forward Ladybug=Bee and just stop a dude.  
> Obsession with truth and media presentation=Illusions.  
> Create hatred=create chaos.  
> Zap people out of existence=teleportation.  
> Grant power=grant monstrous guardians.  
> Correcting a lie and silence can prevent saying the wrong thing=quick save ability.  
> Extremely aggressive attack power and teleportation=aggressive attacks and elemental transformation for escapes.  
> Touching other things to collect them in a limited medium=need to contact other people to grant powers and need butterflies.
> 
> Mylene, contender for Mouse: Size change in response to fear=size change for making back up to face issues.
> 
> So since Juleka is the contender for Tiger, control over how the world sees her=invisibility.
> 
> Ivan is again a straight forward lad.
> 
> Sabrina seems to be one of the contenders for the Dog. Vanisher is a sneak type, but only effective with a present target, and Miraculer is a power stealer, so Dog is a power copier is my theory. Also because Fetch is a fun power name.
> 
> But I'll be disappointed if SOMEONE isn't some kind of power stealer Miraculous.
> 
> And because Chloe can claim being petty by making Kagami a dog, reinforce her badness.
> 
> Also, if canon is gonna just have the two big bads just suddenly run off, I can to, but at least I give them a good scare for it.
> 
> Next time, what the heck all Vedalia was doing.


	22. Secret of of course it's complicated, it's Ladybug

Pit Viper had to keep her distance. If she revealed herself, it had to be shortly before she went back. She couldn't give Mayura a chance to dispel her. It was Chat who emphasized that. Ladybug had looked doubtful when Chat said Chloe cared about her, but he seemed certain. He said if she was destroyed in front of her, whatever shred of rationality she had would be out the window.

And as they observed the situation, the more likely that seemed to be the case. Pegasus and Roi Singe were there, but Rena Rouge and Viperion were not, not even their civilian identities. Ladybug confirmed at least Viperion had been stung.

"She's trying to avoid revealing the permanent holders identities," Chat said. 

"How did she convinced Hawk Moth not to do that? Viperion would be a tempting power for him," Ladybug said in confusion.

"Probably because a quick save is best utilized to gather information and it's hard for a puppet to utilize that," Chat said. 

"You really think Chloe of all people is a gamer to justify that?" Ladybug said, quirking a brow at Chat.

"She's a cosplayer, My Lady. Video games are more than in the realm of possibility," he countered.

Marinette hummed. "Fair," she said.

"And Rena Rouge being active means we could use her illusions for a fake out," Pit Viper said.

"It could be she's just thinking that strategically for Hawk Moth," Ladybug said aloud.

"Nah," Chat said with a shake of his head. "Chloe's proven that the more enraged she is, the less she thinks. She only gets really devious when she's calm. Akuma's are never calm."

Ladybug looked uncertain a few moments. "I suppose if she outed out identities, she might have risked Viperion....then it's just getting it now versus later. She really might have kept it secret."

"That's the spirit," Chat said.

"Okay. Okay, we have Pegasus and Roi Singe. That's teleportation and chaos. We also have the Tiger and Ox. Invisibility and strength. Kagami is there, but she doesn't have a Miraculous yet," Ladybug said, pulling out the Dragon Miraculous. "We should go now. She might still call more."

"Whoa, are you sure that's safe?" Chat asked, gesturing to the Miraculous. "It's dangerous to use that much power."

"Considering how aggressive Chloe can be when she's petty?" Ladybug said with a bit of a bemused grin. "We need every advantage we can get. And it gives Pit Viper more options. Tikki, Longg, Unify!"

Pit Viper jumped out of the water. She was getting a few seconds head start, to get close to observe before they go in. It's enough time, even with her needing to stay close to the ground. More of the wasps try to sting her, but they still have no effect. Soon enough she's got the plaza in sight and she sees the red and black blur rocket off ahead of her and it's then she starts Second Change. Dragonbug is able to keep Chloe and the wasps away with the water shield, so they had five minutes to at least neutralize the wasps.

She observes, calm and patient. She could watch, she could observe. She wanted to be out there, she hated to see them struggling, but a stronger part of her told her to be pragmatic. She had to do all she could to help Chat Noir and this was the best route.

Even if she wanted to be out there, this was just more sensible.

She could be sensible. 

She WILL be sensible.

Roi Singe makes contact and she rewinds. She speaks into her communicator quietly, Chat Noir's already connected. With his sensitive hearing, he can hear her instructions without giving away the game, and keep Roi Singe from hitting Ladybug. He does hit Chat Noir though and Pit Viper let's it continue, to see what happens. He ends up caught in the Tiger's whip with no way out. She rolls back. Avoid Roi Singe, avoid the whip, get caught by the Ox. Back, avoid, avoid, avoid, get teleported away, back again.

They get farther and farther in the fight. The biggest problem is the girl with the Tiger, her invisibility is a chaos factor and it's too hard for Pit VIper to track her from this distance. But she's managing to spot the Tiger before any identities are revealed and turns back the clock. It's almost a dull way to go about it, and its certainly a stressful way to go about it. Everytime Chat Noir is hit, her metaphorical heart leaps into her throat, but she has to watch, because he can push through it. But if anything too bad hits Dragonbug, it's not if's, and's, or but's. She has to roll back.

Except then Chloe-Miracle Queen?-finally does more than encourage her guards.

"Just take a hit already! You owe me some pain, Ladybug!" Miracle Queen snarled.

"You can't work with a terrorist just because you're not given an extremely powerful magical item, Chloe!" Ladybug shot back.

"Not given-I was earning it! I was helping people! I was helping you! I was offering plans to catch the villains! I help you with YOUR trust issues! Guess what, if you weren't going back and forth, Hawk Moth wouldn't have found the old man! Just trusted some more people with a Miraculous earlier and this wouldn't have happened and I TOLD you that you needed to trust people! I keep your identity a secret, and what do you do? Recruit the one person with the same situation as me because it was NEVER about revealing my identity, it was about me!" Miracle Queen shouted. "It was because you didn't like me! It didn't matter how hard I was trying, you were never going to give me a real chance!"

And then, there was silence. The guards frozen in their Queen's rage, the heroes in horror at what Miracle Queen admitted, and the adults at the same.

"You...know Ladybug's identity?" Hawk Moth said.

And now Miracle Queen froze. "....no."

"Are you lying to me, Miracle Queen?" Hawk Moth asked, voice ice cold.

"Of course not. I meant her identity as my best friend!" Miracle Queen said.

"I think I won't take that chance. Tell me what you know, Miracle Queen," Hawk Moth ordered.

"I told you, I don't-" Miracle Queen choked and then fell to her knees, arms wrapping around herself.

"If you want the pain to stop, Miracle Queen, it's best you tell me," Hawk Moth said.

"Chloe?! What are you doing to her?!" Chat Noir demanded.

"Holding her to our deal," Hawk Moth said, holding up his hand before clenching it into a fist and Miracle Queen began to scream.

Pit Viper rolled back time. She gave the instructions for the fight and then, "Chat Noir, you need to get Miracle Queen focused on you and away from Ladybug."

Chat Noir follows without question, throwing Roi Singe's staff at Miracle Queen and they proceeded to just bicker.

It was proof now though. Chloe was fighting. She was trying to told back vital information, Ladybug's identity. Whatever might have set her off for an Akuma, it wasn't enough for her to go all in. Worst case scenario was she just wanted to get back at Ladybug, not put all of Paris in danger for it. While Akumatized.

Vedalia knew there was a good heart in there. It took a lot of will to fight against Akumatized compulsions.

But Akuma compulsions are hard to fight. She had to keep Miracle Queen from focusing too much on Ladybug. She seems to maintain control with Chat Noir, so long as they could keep her there, then they might pull this off.

"My Queen, I believe it's time to shift the odds more in our favor," Hawk Moth said.

"You could shift the odds by breaking the old man's shield," Miracle Queen snapped.

"And you have another user beside you," Hawk Moth said calmly. "And a way inside the water barrier."

Miracle Queen looked at Kagami. She scowled and pulled out a Miraculous, putting the collar around Kagami's neck. "Order your kwami to tell you how to transform and use it's power,"she said.

Vedalia assumed it was the order. While it was easier to hear Hawk Moth and Chloe with them trying to get the heroes to hear, to fill them with dread, but Kagami wasn't projecting near as much. Nor was Barkk, but within moments, Kagami had transformed into a Dog Superhero.

"Now Fetch Voyage," Miracle Queen commanded.

Within moments, the battlefield had shifted. With the Dog Miraculous, Kagami was able to copy the Horse's power and open up a portal for Kagami and Miracle Queen to step through into the water dome. Luckily Dragonbug was able to act quick enough to move water from the bottom of the dome over the portal to keep the wasps out, but with an extra two combatants, the fight was going to get harder. A lot harder.

Thankfully Kagami could only fight without another use of power, which was something. It looked like the Dog Miraculous was limited to the weaknesses of what it's copied. If Pegasus could only use it once, then Kagami could only use it once. But now it was very apparent Miracle Queen was very angry with Ladybug. As soon as she was in the barrier, she focused on her, whipping out her hand, blank ribbons shooting out from the end of her sleeves to wrap around her, pulling her away from the Ox, but slamming her into her own water barrier.

"If you had just listened to me, this wouldn't be happening!" Miracle Queen snarled. "I asked you to let me help you fight! I did all I could for you and for what? For you to lie to my face?!" She was on Dragonbug as soon as she had her feet under her, throwing a fist for her face. Dragonbug manages to dodge out of the way, countering with her sword, but before she could hit Miracle Queen, more ribbons appeared, wrapping around the sword and throwing it away.

Chat Noir caught it, using it as a second weapon since half of his baton still remained at his back, open for communication. He was doing his best to fend off Pegasus, Ox, Roi Singe, and Kagami. Mostly by climbing over Roi Singe in his attempts to avoid Uproar, finally managing to kick Roi Singe in the back of the head to force him into the Ox, forcing them to spill into a pile on the floor and the Ox's gloves turned into fuzzy oven mitts.

Wait.

Dragonbug was still fighting Miracle Queen, mostly ducking and dodging between strips of black and yellow ribbon that were trying to get her. "I didn't lie to you!"

Wait!

"I can't be a hero because my identity is known! I can't be a hero because it'd put my loved ones in danger! It was my parents! Both of them! I don't even love that many people and that was most of them!" Miracle Queen shouted. "And then you recruit that ice queen! She hasn't even been involved with a dozen Akuma attacks, she'd be in a lot more danger than me! Of course you lied!"

"I didn't! Chloe, that isn't what happened-"

WAIT!

"I lost the Tiger!"

"My Lady, Tiger!" Chat shouted.

Dragonbug stumbled over an unseen object and then the ribbons were around her again, pulling her to Miracle Queen.

"Stop lying to me! Stop it! You owe me the truth, Ladybug. If you just hated me that much, stop letting me hope that I can be someone of worth!" Miracle Queen snarled, even as tears fell from her face, her hands reaching for the earrings.

Pit Viper rolled back. "Roi Singe from behind Dragonbug in fifteen seconds. Chat Noir, I need a distraction," she said.

Chat gets Dragonbug away from Roi Singe and pulls out his communicator. "You're going to need to be a lot more specific! There's a lot to distract."

"I need to get Hawk Moth to not have an idea he's gonna have. Miracle Queen getting close to Dragonbug just means she loses it to the hurt," Pit Viper said.

"That is a toughie," Chat said.

"Whip at your feet."

Chat Noir jumps over it. "Let's see....oh! Street performer set up anywhere near you?"

"Miracle Queen, he's talking to someone! There's back up!" Hawk Moth snarled.

"Yes, I see some. Band members still there and everything! Rolling back," Pit Viper said, rolling back and rushing to the stage and.

And she doesn't know about sound systems.

At all.

Shoot.

Another call. "Hit Roi Singe now," Pit Viper said and Chat obeys. "Distracting Hawk Moth. Street performer sound system. What do I do?"

"Wha-um. Need to play music! Probably what I was going for!" Chat said.

"I don't know anything about these devices!"

"Oh....Dragonbug can you give instructions over the phone how to set up a sound system?" Chat called.

"Sound-no, not over the phone! I can only barely set it up for stuff I work with personally!" Dragonbug shouted.

"Whip at feet. Can't you?"

"Not without seeing it! Not for the volume we need," Chat said.

"They have an ally!" Hawk Moth shouted.

"I don't think I can search this up, do you have another idea?" PIt Viper asked.

"Wait, Markov!" Dragonbug shouted.

"Mar-who?" 

"Brilliant, Dragonbug! There's a chance he's nearby. Pit Viper, take a few cycles and look around for a Markov. Little floating ball with a claw hand. He's Max's friend, and a robot, he might be sting proof too. If we're lucky, he might have followed Max. He'll know what do with the sound system."

"I...okay!" Pit Viper said.

And rolled back.

She's a magical creature, but even she thinks things are weird. A robot? Seriously?

She moves from her perch, and begins searching the places that can still see the fight. Clearly if this Markov is here, he's smart enough to keep away from the fight. If he's this Max's friend, he should be at least trying to keep an eye on it. She tracks the time, giving the warnings as she needs to until Kagami is changed and they would be in the dome. Then she rolled back and looked around.

It takes a few times before she notices a swarm of wasps surroundings a food stall. She approaches, swatting away the bees with her Lyre and opening up the covering for the food.

And there's a little metal ball with a claw hand. 

"Please tell me you're Markov," Pit Viper said.

"Are you a friend of Ladybug's?" The little robot asked warily.

"I am."

"Do you have proof?"

That gets her to pause. "I'm on a call, but that would distract them in the fight, that's not viable....there can only be one Akumatized object, and if there's more than one person in an Akuma, they're all connected to that item. I'm pretty far from Chloe? And I can't be possessed, my eyes aren't yellow."

"What if you're a Sentimonster?" Markov asked. 

....well, she was, but she knows that's bad to SAY.

"Have you ever seen more than one Sentimonster? I certainly haven't," Pit Viper said.

"There is one active?" Markov asked.

Pit Viper stepped back and pointed towards the rooftop where the villains were. "See?"

The little robot is silent a beat. "Then there is an eighty-seven percent chance you are indeed a friend of Ladybug's. Please help! My best friend Max was stung by the wasps and he was unresponsive to any inquires as he walked over here. I am very worried,"

"I know, but we're going to save him," Pit Viper said and rolled back time.

She was at the food cart a lot faster, giving battle advice as she swatted away wasps and opened it to find Markov. "Markov, I need your help?"

"You know my name? Are you a friend of Ladybug's?" Markov asked.

"Chloe is the actual Akumatized person and my eyes aren't yellow and the Sentimonster is attacking the green dome over there," Pit Viper said, pointing towards the battle. "I'm Ladybug's friend."

The little robot is silent a beat. "Then there is an eighty-seven per-" he started as he flew up, but stopped as Pit Viper held up a hand. 

"Max is in danger, I know. We're gonna save him, I need you with me," Pit Viper said, and leading Markov over to the street performance stage. "Can you....make this all work?" She asked, gesturing at it.

"Why yes! But how will that help Max?" Markov asked, but moving towards the system anyway.

Pit Viper isn't sure why a robot is willing to trust Ladybug's friend so much, but she's glad for it. It makes this a lot easier.

"We'll see. Chat Noir, answer the phone," Pit Viper said to her device.

"What's up?"

"I'm working on a Hawk Moth distraction. I've got control of a stage with a sound system. I have Markov. What should I be playing?"

"Pla-got it. What should-" Chat stopped a moment, staring at Miracle Queen. "....Japanese, Rin Kagamine, Vocaloid, Daughter of Evil. Set it to max volume. Tell Markov."

"Got it. Get Chloe focused on you, away from Ladybug," PIt Viper said and looked to Markov. "Chat Noir says to play Japanese, Rin Kagamine, Vocaloid, Daughter of Evil at max volume."

And the sound-

It's definitely not a pleasant one. Maybe at a normal volume, but the natural high pitch of the artificial voice mixing with peaking speakers is TERRIBLE, especially so close. She's rather glad she IS a Sentimonster now because she's pretty sure if she was human, this would have burst an ear drum. She watches the fight. She sees Pegasus go down, it looks like the Tiger was hit. She can see Chat is in pain, but he's managing to push through, probably thanks to the warning. Hawk Moth and Mayura have their own ears covered, so it can work, it can distract them.

Miracle Queen, having dropped the Dog Miraculous, and-

Oh.

It was the DOG Miraculous.

Pit Viper looking around the area and suddenly....

Suddenly she KNEW what she had to do.

She rolled back.

"Pass the message I can save Master Fu when I tell you to avoid Pegasus for the first time," Pit Viper said, already running to get Markov.

She sees Chat Noir stumble a bit, but not enough to interrupt his flow in the fight.

She has Markov with her, she gives her instructions, keeping to the time. She gets him to the stage and tells him what she needs.

And she has to find her new position. 

It takes about two tries before she has it. Close enough to Miracle Queen and Kagami to get Kagami quickly, but still have enough cover to hide two bodies. Now she just has to hope she's not too close to Mayura.

The music plays, distracting the battlefield, distracting Miracle, and has Kagami half crumpled on the ground and so easy to take advantage of.

She loops her yo-yo around the Lyre, no reason to make it obvious what she has in case Hawk Moth and Mayura were paying some attention, and then she threw her weapons forward, hooking around Kagami and pulling her back to her. She catches her out of the air and without further orders, she can duck behind the pillars with her safely. "Sorry Kagami, but I need this," she said, taking the collar off her and putting it on as Barkk appeared.

"What-who are you?" Barkk asked in confusion.

"Pit Viper. Ladybug's ally. What's your name?" She asked.

"This is very dangerous-" Barkk started.

"It's to save Fu," she said, fire and determination in her veins. She knows what she has to do, she KNOWS what she has to do, and she knows Dragonbug will be able to figure out the rest. She trusts Chat Noir to help however she needs.

But if she saved Fu, then it guaranteed they could keep Chloe safe. And maybe...just maybe they could end things TODAY.

The kwami pauses. Then whimpers, but he answers all the same. "...Barkk."

"Then let's go. Sass, Barkk, unify!" She commanded, feeling another rush of power through her.

And the fire is suddenly feeling far less metaphorical. The power BURNS through her, it's daggers through her limbs, everything is far too bright, far too THERE, and the music is near maddening like this.

She hits the floor, breathing heavily, a loud buzzing in her head that isn't from the music or the wasps, and it's so much power. It's far too much power. Too much magic. Her body isn't designed to take on this much power.

But she has to.

She can't do this long, that's just a matter of fact.

But if she could just do it a minute, just a minute....

She focuses on Miracle Queen.

"Fetch."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean.
> 
> Max's mom got a spacesuit and the infinitely curious AI ISN'T checking it out? Nah, he was just late, and then Max was walking away like a zombie. Markov totally watched at a distance.
> 
> Also I like Markov.
> 
> ALSO FIGHTS ARE. 
> 
> SO HARD.
> 
> SO VERY HARD.
> 
> Hopefully it was enjoyable. 
> 
> But Fu ain't getting out of his responsibility THAT easily, you be support for these kids, mister.


End file.
